Primary mental health support: what will change in 2025
Kyiv • UNN
Starting in 2025, mental health services will become part of the basic primary care package. All family doctors and medical staff will be required to have who mhGAP certificates.
Starting from 2025, mental health support services in Ukraine will become available to all citizens on the basis of primary health care (PMD). This is reported by the Ministry of Health, Reports UNN.
Details
The National Health Service of Ukraine (NHS) is introducing a new approach: care for mental disorders is integrated into the basic package of medical services provided by family doctors, internists and pediatricians.
This means that from January 1, 2025, free mental health services will be provided by all primary health care institutions (regardless of the form of ownership) that are contracted by the NHS to provide primary health care. It is not necessary for medical institutions to contract for a separate package in order to provide mental health services.
If you or your loved ones need help, contact your family doctor, general practitioner, or pediatrician. In institutions that are contracted with the NHS, mental health support services are free of charge and will be included in the basic package from 2025. You can find a medical facility for PMD on the official website of the NHS
According to the updated requirements, all family doctors, internists, pediatricians and nurses/brothers working in the primary care facility contracted with the NHS must have certificates of completion of training under the who mhGAP program, which provides basic knowledge on the management of mental disorders.
According to the Ministry of health of Ukraine, during 2024, about 500,000 patients received assistance under this package. At the same time, in 2023, about 135 thousand patients applied for mental health services to the primary school. That is, the growth was more than 350 %.
In particular, the following problems were addressed:
- Feelings of anxiety and tension – 170,980 requests in 2024. This is 3.5 times more than in 2023 (49,656 requests).
- Sleep disorders – 65,818 requests in 2024, which is almost twice as much as in 2023 (33,542 requests).
- Depressed mood – 23,265 requests in 2024, while in 2023 there were only 8,178 of them.
- Behavioral disorders in children – 19,736 requests in 2024, which also indicates a doubling of 2023 (8,112 requests).
addition
mhGAP (Mental Health Gap Action Program) is the global flagship who program aimed at increasing access to mental health services by engaging non-specialized mental health personnel (such as family doctors) to help people with mental disorders. The mhGAP guide and its version for emergency humanitarian conditions offer non-mental health professionals protocols for assessing and managing common mental disorders such as depression, acute stress response, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal behavior, substance use disorders, and other PNPR disorders.
recall
The Ministry of health plans to establish 220 mental health centers across the country by the end of 2025. As of today, 23-24 centers are already functioning, and funding for the rest will begin on January 1, 2025 through the NHS.
