Rep. Ray Florence Reyes of Anakalusugan party-list group commended the Marcos administration for setting aside P2.1 billion in funding for mental health programs for 2023 under the Department of Health.
“Mental health in our country is stigmatized, made worse by a meager annual budget. Mental health is one of our country’s under-resourced sectors. The appropriation earmarked by the Department of Health worth 2.1 billion pesos for next year could possibly change this,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the P2.1 billion allocation is a huge markup from last year’s P568.04 million budget. “With this amount for 2023 we can improve, create, and provide more services for Filipinos suffering from mental health issues,” he said.
Citing a study conducted on the Philippines’ mental health situation by the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Reyes revealed government hospitals and state health insurers only cover in-patient services.
This means that outpatient cases suffering from mental health illnesses still cover 100 percent of treatment costs from their own pockets, the party-list legislator stressed.
“It is greatly hoped that this budget increase can lessen the financial burden on our countrymen. This is surely a positive step towards the drive to break the stigma associated with mental illness, as it creates opportunities for improvement in officially funded health-centric priorities,” Reyes stated.
DOH indicated that around 3.6 million Filipinos suffered mental disorders at the height of the pandemic. It is also the third most common disability in the country.
Further, the country recorded the third highest rate of mental disorders per capita in the Western Pacific region, Reyes said.