The Ecuadorian Association of Psychiatry asked the president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, to create a law on mental health in the country, due to the lack of drugs for psychiatric patients.
The president of the association, Dr. Juan Ayala, declared that cases of depression, violence, suicide attempts have increased during this Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have no medications to give to our psychotic patients, depressed patients, patients with psychomotor agitation, patients with post-traumatic stress,” Ayala said.
The Julio Endara Psychiatric Hospital is taking different alternatives, such as raffles, to acquire the medications. However, the representative of the doctors’ union warned that the situation cannot continue like this, because there is a hidden pandemic behind Covid-19:
“Beware of the pandemic of anxiety, depression, suicide attempts, domestic violence”
Ayala mentioned that the authority responsible for responding to the need for medicines is Mauricio Espinel: “That person in charge has a first and last name, Mauricio Espinel, who is the manager.”
Suicides and domestic violence
ECU 911 reported this that they receive, daily, 316 alerts related to domestic violence, consequently there is an approximate monthly average of 9,500 calls. In the case of suicides, there has been an increase, compared to the previous year, from January to June, of 37% in emergencies referring to suicides throughout the country, with a total of 194 cases.
To contact the Ecuadorian Association of Psychiatry you can visit the following page: https://psiquiatriaecuador.com/
Sources: Ecuadorian Association of Psychiatry / Pichincha Comunicaciones / Local media
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