New bill banning chaining, tonsuring of mental illness patients introduced

New Delhi: A new bill to protect rights of persons with mental illness has provisions for banning tonsuring and chaining of patients and allowing adults to make an advance directive on how they wish to be treated in case they suffer from mental illness in future. The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today also seeks to safeguard the right to access mental health care, right to community living, right to protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and right to equality and non-discrimination. The new bill that aims to ensure that proper medical treatment is provided to mentally ill patients also seeks to regulate the public and private mental health sectors and establish a mental health system integrated into all levels of general health care. [caption id=“attachment_1045179” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] It seeks to prohibit electro-convulsive therapy (electric shock treatment) on mentally-ill patients without the use of muscle relaxants and anaesthesia and totally ban such therapy for minors. However, when doctors feel that it is necessary for minors, it can be done by consent of the guardian and prior permission of the concerned medical board. It also bans chaining in any manner of a mentally-ill patient and sterilisation of men or women, when such sterilisation is intended as a treatment for mental illness. The Advance Directive to be furnished in writing by a person, irrespective of his mental illness, and registered with a Mental Board to be set up by the government at state and central levels, also allows the individual to appoint a nominated representative to deal with the kind of treatment in the case he falls mentally ill. The person writing the advance directive and his nominated representative shall have a duty to ensure that the medical officer in charge of a mental health establishment or a medical practitioner has access to the advance directive. The new Bill also seeks to establish a State Mental Health Authority and a Central Mental Health Authority, besides also a Mental Health Review Commission. PTI