JS passes Mental Health Bill, 2018 with a provision of fine Tk 5-20 lakh

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SANGSAD BHABAN, Oct 25, 2018 (BSS) – The Mental Health Bill, 2018 was passed in the Jatiya Sangsad today with keeping a provision of imposing monetary penalty of Taka5 lakh for operating mental hospital illegally without taking any license and the penalty would be Taka 20 lakh in case of finding same offense for one more time.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim moved the bill which was unanimously passed by voice votes in the House here today with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

Placing the bill, the health minister said the enactment of the proposed law will repeal the century old ‘The Lunacy Act, 1912’ in order to protect the rights of mentally ill people.

Under the draft act, the mental professionals will be accused of same offense and would come under monetary penalty of Taka one lakh for engaging himself at the mental hospital running without license, according to the draft law.

As per the law, a Special Mental Illness Affairs Tribunal will be set up in all the 64 districts to dispose off the cases related to mentally ill people.

The minister described the Bangladesh Mental Health Bill as a time-befitting one to protect the rights of mentally ill people.

“There are so many mentally ill people in our society, and we should protect and ensure their rights. The proposed bill will help us do so,” he said.

The health minister said that these days minors are more prone to mental illness than adults. He added that they will form an authority after enacting the law.

Mental health is a global problem and ranks fourth in the list of top ten deadly diseases.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 450 million people in the world suffer from neuropsychiatric disorders. In Bangladesh, 15 million people suffer from mental illnesses of various types.

According to the first national survey on mental health conducted by the WHO in 2003-05, 16.1 per cent adults and 18.04 per cent children suffer from mental illness. Women (19 per cent) are more vulnerable to mental illness than men (12.9 per cent) in the country.

At least 10,000 people commit suicide especially due to mental health problems every year in the country.

The draft act earlier was placed in the parliament and then sent to the parliamentary standing committee on October 18 for providing report after further scrutiny.