We ask the Government to

· Establish a mental health division in the Ministry of Health and Population
· Allocate an annual budget for addressing mental health issues
· Promote community based support programs for citizens and their families who struggle to care for family members with poor mental health. Particular priority should be given to cases where patients are chained, locked up, abandoned, and especially to women and children that suffer from mental health problems as a result of armed conflict and desolation following the earthquake.
· Implement specific mental health polices and adopt mental health laws to safeguard the rights of those with poor mental health.

People with poor mental health in Nepal suffer terribly and very often these problems result in individuals being thrown out onto the streets by their families who cannot cope with them. In some instances they experience extreme abuse such as forced prostitution by families who view women with mental health problems, in particular, as good for nothing else. The research done by Safe Motherhood Nepal, supported by DfID, showed that suicide following depression is the leading cause, at 16%, of maternal mortality and morbidity in Nepal.

Background.

This petition is organised by KOSHISH www.koshishnepal.org and Women Without Roofs - Nepal www.facebook.com/WWRNepal.

KOSHISH is the only organisation in Nepal that focuses on assisting people with mental health problems and was founded in 2008. Since January 2014, Women Without Roofs (WWR) has been partnering with KOSHISH to provide extended care to victims in particular need.

KOSHISH is run on a shoe-string and as the only organisation in Nepal that looks after mental health patients long term is overwhelmed with referrals from across the country. The group's founder, Matrika Devkota, who suffered from mental health issues himself, recently had to change his telephone number because it would not stop ringing with new case referrals and he was under an enormous amount of stress. He was recognised recently by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) who honoured him with this year’s Dayaram Pariyar Human Rights Memorial Award http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2015/03/30/news/rajbhandari-devkota-get-hr-award/274800......

and in 2013 he received the Dr. Guislain International Award for breaking the chain of stigma in mental illness www.drguislainaward.org/about-the-award/winners

Following the devastating earthquake in April 2015, Koshish expects the number of new case referrals to increase significantly as many people are left homeless and without families to care for them. The trauma they have experienced will trigger psychological sickness and will need addressing by trained experts. The government should make doing this a priority, not only because of the moral imperative but also because citizens need to be healthy both physically and mentally to play a role in helping their community and society flourish. In this way the tragedy of the earthquake will be overcome.

The Government of Nepal is doing little to help KOSHISH and is not acting to help its people who suffer from mental illness. It would be transformative if the Government could help to address the lack of mental health care in Nepal by supporting organisations such as KOSHISH. We believe that most impact would be achieved if the Nepali Government made addressing mental health a priority by integrating mental health into general health care and creating a mental health
division with a significant budget to achieve change.

To find out more about the work of Koshish please view this
interview with Matrika Devkota https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iniqvnBX1_A

More information about the impact on mental health by the earthquake can be accessed here:
http://www.torontotelegraph.com/index.php/sid/232985299
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/15/nepal-earthquake-mental-health-disaster?