What's Up with India's Promising National Tele Mental Health Programme?

In this year's union budget, the government announced an ambitious National Tele Mental Health Programme.

It was a vital and welcome step. But there was no clarity on critical issues such as funding, personnel, data privacy etc.

So, I filed a Right to Information (RTI) application to find out. Here's what I learnt.

For context, see my report on the budget:

Many big questions, no clear answers yet

Mental health is among the worst funded sectors across low- and middle-income countries, which also have a dire crunch of trained professionals. Responsible use of technology can help improve access to care.?

In her budget speech, the finance minister announced the creation of 23 tele mental health centres of excellence, with the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) as the nodal centre and IIIT Bangalore managing the tech backbone.

Here are the questions I raised in my RTI request to NIMHANS, and their replies:?

1. Please share the complete list of names and locations of the 23 centres of excellence.

Answer: Still being worked out.?

PS: India already had 23 CoEs under the National Mental Health Programme. In 2018, Mos Health provided a list of 12 CoEs sanctioned in the previous 3 yrs in Lok Sabha.

Will the National Tele Mental Health Programme have different CoEs? Unclear.

2. What is the total budget set aside for the National Tele Mental Health Programme?

A: Still being worked out.?

3. Will this budget be financed with fresh funding or taken from the existing allocations to NIMHANS and the CoEs?

A: No information regarding budgetary allocation available with NIMHANS.?

PS: Of the total mental health budget of INR670 crore, NIMHANS got INR560 crore, slightly up from last year.?It isn't clear how much of this goes into mental health since NIMHANS also has a large neuroscience department, and how much might have been apportioned for the tele programme.?

4. Please share details of funding released to each of these 23 centres of excellence, barring any that may not yet be operational, in the past 3 years.

A: No information available.?

5. What is the total estimated number of new personnel required to operate the National Tele Mental Health Programme, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, counselors etc.

A: Being worked out.

6. What steps will be taken to preserve the privacy of personal information shared by users? (This might have been an overly broad question.)

A: "The steps to preserve the privacy and personal information will be in accordance with the relevant laws, policies and guidelines."?

7. Which law will regulate the handling of personal information?

A: IT Act, 2000 and corresponding rules; Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, 2000.

I wonder if that's a typo considering new telemedicine guidelines were published in 2020. Also, apropos the question on the handling of private information, I wonder if the long anticipated Personal Data Protection Law will have any bearing. I guess we have to wait and see.?

Conclusion

It's easy to get cynical given the historical neglect of mental health and the general lack of foundational information. For the moment, I'm telling myself that this is a vast, first-of-its-kind exercise, and no one in the sector expects all answers to come fast.

That said, we need to keep following up on these important questions which will have a direct impact on how well the programme is implemented. (I got these replies after lodging an appeal since my original RTI application went unanswered.)?

To sum up: The National Tele Mental Health Programme is a powerful measure if done right. BUT the groundwork must involve meaningful stakeholder representation, and programme-related information must be transparently shared from time to time.

Good luck to us.

Here's the source for this thread for any researcher interested in tracking this development.?