Report highlights lack of services

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St Giles Hospital. Picture: JONA KONATACI/FILE

Fiji has no mental health services in the outer islands and a lack of qualified counsellors in rural areas, says senior United Nations health official Dainius Puras.

Mr Puras, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, said the traditional model of mental healthcare in Fiji often led to “stigma, discrimination and the isolation of persons with mental health conditions and disabilities”.

“The Special Rapporteur observed the limited and even total absence of mental health services in the outer islands and the lack of qualified counsellors in rural areas,” the report read.

“Mental health survivors reported that they continued to feel disempowered and in a distinctly vulnerable situation.

“Such persons are often subjected to forms of violence that frequently go undocumented and lack access to information about their rights and how to exercise them.”

Mr Puras said there was a lack of mental health support for pregnant women and new mothers.

“Depression is twice as common in women during childbearing age as in men and is closely linked to adversity, inequalities and violence, including gender-based.

“It is not uncommon for new mothers to be mistreated by healthcare workers.”

Mr Puras visited Fiji in 2019.

In its reply, Fiji welcomed the recommendations outlined in the Special Rapporteur’s report.

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