Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran says a multi-agency approach is needed to address the problem of mentally unstable persons roaming the city’s streets, with his ministry seeking to ensure that primary healthcare workers are trained to diagnose such persons during the early stages of illness.
Dr. Ramsaran told reporters following Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly that the issue is a complex one that requires the involvement of various stakeholders, including ministries, the private sector and the media. Observers note that this is an issue that has been on the government’s agenda for many years.
Asked what the ministry is doing in light of attacks by mentally disturbed persons on members of the public, Ramsaran said that a multiagency approach has to be taken as the issue is also linked to the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
He noted that there are a number of contributing factors, including substance abuse and even persons who have been deported back to Guyana.
He added that the Human Services Ministry is “taking some significant action in this regard, by creating spaces to keep these people” and he mentioned the Drop in Centre as one example.
He added that many of the persons who fall through the cracks are victims of substance abuse, although the Phoenix Recovery Project and the Salvation Army are providing good service to help such persons. “I have seen people reform, I have seen people come back from over the brink so we need to reinforce this,” he said, while adding that government funds some of the activities associated with this issue but there is a need for this support to be expanded.
Dr. Ramsaran said that the Ministry of Home Affairs also plays a part since it is the police that would have to apprehend unstable persons to be taken to a specialist for medical evaluation. “He may be violent. How do the police deal with that?” he questioned, while adding that there are human rights issues that are involved.
He said that his ministry is trying to train more mental health personnel, while saying it is hoped that mentally ill persons are diagnosed in the primary health care system instead of “when it is too late” and they require specialist care
“We are hoping to train nurses, medex, [and] doctors to bring that mental health training down to the primary health care so that the first interaction is not with the specialist but to catch them when you are observing the signs,” he stressed.
The minister assured reporters that “things are being done quietly” but progress is being hampered by the lack of resources. He noted that the ministry has to expand and bring primary health care and mental health together as is being done with other health issues, such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
Last Friday, Kevin Layne was stabbed by a mentally unstable man while he was walking along Wellington Street on his way to the Astor Cinema.
Layne recounted that his assailant, unprovoked, approached him and began stabbing him to the neck with a knife. He remains hospitalised while police are still searching for his attacker.
On November 28, a Brickdam Secondary School student had to be rushed to hospital after he was hit in the head by a mentally unstable man as he was walking in the Stabroek Market area.
In May, Walter Sankar, a US citizen, died several days after he was severely beaten with a galvanised pipe by an unstable man. Sankar, 69, of Lot 7 Fort Street, Kingston, was at a shop opposite his home purchasing cigarettes when the man approached from behind and began hitting him over the head.
In September last year, Sheriff Balmacoon was stabbed to death by a mentally ill woman as he made his way to his Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara home.
His throat was also slashed in the attack. The woman was later caught by police.
