The measure is in line with a parliamentary recommendation I made to the Minister of Health last April
Shatha Al-Naqbi: “Psychological treatment” in schools eliminates “social stigma”
Shatha Al-Naqbi: "The procedure helps our children to raise their behavioral and psychological problems, and treat them from a young age."
Member of the Federal National Council, Shatha Saeed Al-Naqbi, said that granting permits to specialists from licensed medical centers and clinics to provide psychological treatment services to students in private schools and educational partnership schools in Abu Dhabi is an important step that contributes to ending the problem of "social stigma".
And she added that this procedure is in line with a parliamentary recommendation presented to the Minister of Health and Community Protection, Abdul Rahman bin Muhammad Al Owais, in mid-April, during the ninth session of the Federal National Council from the current session, stipulating “coordination between the Ministries of Health and Community Protection and Education to accommodate psychiatrists in schools. And obligating children to visit them for periodic follow-up, and to educate the community about the importance of mental health.”
The Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi issued an administrative circular on June 14, to the families of school students, informing them that specialists from licensed centers and clinics in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi can obtain a permit to provide specialized treatment services (speech therapy, occupational or psychological therapy) for students in private schools. And educational partnerships schools, in a move aimed at promoting the integration of students who need specialized treatment services, in line with their needs.
Al-Naqbi said, “This procedure is a first step to urge society to accept the presence of a psychiatrist and social worker.
It also enhances the confidence of our children in presenting their behavioral and psychological problems, and addressing them from a young age,” expressing confidence that the Ministry of Education, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Community Protection, will go in the same direction “in a manner that contributes to expanding the horizons of student children, and getting rid of the phenomenon of societal stigma for treatment.” Psychological.”
She added: "During our study, we monitored the issue of the Ministry of Health and Community Protection's policy on promoting mental health in the country, the growing phenomenon of societal stigma among psychiatric patients, due to three main factors, the first of which is the absence of media and educational campaigns for psychiatric patients to know their psychological, social and legal rights, in order to reduce stigma and discrimination. Enabling families to detect psychological conditions early, the absence of scientific studies aimed at reducing the social stigma of mental illness, and finally the lack of doctors and psychiatrists in the country, as their rate in the country is 3.12% per 100,000 population.
She explained that 73% of individuals justify the reasons for reluctance to seek treatment for psychiatric patients by "fear, shame and a sense of shame from society or those around them", stressing that the presence of doctors and psychiatrists in schools will contribute to eliminating this phenomenon.
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