#5 - JRL 8001
Psychiatric disorders on the rise in Russia, experts say

MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) - Psychiatric disorders are on the rise in Russia, Russian experts say.

"The mental health of Russia's population has deteriorated considerably over the past decade," a report on the observance of the International Pact of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights obtained by Interfax says.

The report says prepared by Russian non-governmental organizations, in particular, the Civil Society Foundation, the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, the Moscow Helsinki Group, etc.

An estimated 3.8 million people (or 2.6% of Russia's population) have serious mental disorders and 14 million people (10% of the population) need psychiatric assistance, the report states. The consequences of mental disorders are becoming more serious each year. Among other things, "the number of people who become disabled as a result of psychiatric disorders ha increased by over 50% over thus time," the reports reads.

Not all people have access to psychiatric assistance in Russia, the experts say. The reason for that is the high number of regions, low population density, and the low level of development of transport networks. Psychiatric clinics receive only about 50% of the funding to which they are entitled, the document says.

At the same time, the experts recalled that the state program for the development of psychiatric services is aimed at "making psychiatric assistance available to the population." To achieve this goal, it is planned to open psychiatric rooms in polyclinics and psychotic sections in hospitals. However, these plans are not being implemented as fast as wished, the experts say.