The number of medical facilities licensed to treat people with mental illnesses and addiction in Egypt has increased to 192 from the beginning of June until the end of August 2023, according to the National Council for Mental Health.
Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, said that the number of specialist and consultant doctors who have applied for registration and been registered in the records of the National Council for Mental Health has increased to 772 doctors, and the number of inspection doctors in the regional mental health councils has increased to 119 doctors.
Manal Al-Attar, the Head of the Central Administration of the Technical Secretariat of the National Council for Mental Health, said that the council organized 22 awareness-raising workshops and seminars, in addition to 38 training courses, targeting 1,150 trainee mental health doctors.
Al-Attar added that the response rate to complaints received from the General Administration for the care of the rights of psychiatric patients, as well as those received from the unified government complaints system, reached 100%. The administration also carried out 118 visits to psychiatric facilities.
The increase in the number of mental health facilities is part of a broader effort by the Egyptian government to improve mental health care in the country. In recent years, the government has also increased funding for mental health programs and initiatives and has launched a number of awareness-raising campaigns about mental health issues.
