Egypt launches 1st platform in Eastern Mediterranean for mental health, addiction treatment services

CAIRO – 16 March 2022: The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population announced Wednesday launching the first national electronic platform in Egypt for mental health services and addiction treatment free of charge, aiming to expand the provision of mental health services and making them available to all.

Dr. Manen Abdel-Maqsoud, head of the General Secretariat for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment, explained that the platform aims to provide free government services for mental health and addiction treatment, for all age groups of Egyptians and non-Egyptians residing in Egypt, noting that the platform is the first of its kind in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

“It is one of the fruits of cooperation between the General Secretariat for Mental Health and Addiction Treatment, the National Information Center at the Ministry of Health and Population, the World Health Organization, and the University of British Columbia in Canada,” she said, adding that it includes an elite group of technical and technical cadres at the Ministry of Health and Population, psychiatrists and international experts in the field of psychiatry and addiction treatment.

Abdel-Maqsoud added that “the use of electronic services in the field of mental health will greatly contribute to obtaining high-quality counseling and psychological support, with privacy and complete confidentiality, overcoming the stigma related to mental disorders in society.”

She also added that the platform aims to correct misconceptions and providing sound information for all, on the following link:

http:/ /nmhp.mohp.gov.eg/mental/web/en.  

Dr. Naima El Kassir, WHO representative in Egypt and head of the mission said: "Today, I am proud of the presence of a free, friendly and easy-to-use electronic platform as a great step to achieve access and equal access to mental health services in Egypt without any discrimination," adding: “Mental health, where psychological safety is an essential element in the World Health Organization’s definition of health. Good mental health enables a person to realize his potential, and to deal with the normal stresses of life and work productively.”

The platform includes three main sections. The first section provides educational and awareness content to users by providing important scientific information about common disorders in general psychiatry and its specialized branches such as child and adolescent psychiatry, the elderly and addiction.

The second section includes providing psychological support and counseling services through virtual clinics “telemedicine” through a few simple steps that enable users to assess their psychological state through the general mental health questionnaire, as well as booking a session with qualified psychotherapists, where the user chooses the appropriate place and time to perform.

The third section is concerned with the site’s supervisors and administrators, where they can monitor and evaluate the platform’s performance, and it presents the most important reports on the portal’s statistics, such as the number of users, their age, follow-up rate, most visited specialties, and other data.