AMMAN -- The Kingdom's third specialised mental health centre will open next month in the Governorate of Maan, 220 kilometres south of the capital, according to Health Minister Abdul Latif Wreikat.
In a recent statement to The Jordan Times, Wreikat explained that the centre would serve the southern region, while centres in Amman and Irbid already serve the central and northern regions.
The opening of the centre is part of the health ministry's ongoing plan to develop mental health services across the Kingdom.
Although the ministry has already started integrating mental health services with primary healthcare services, Wreikat said, "we still have a shortage of specialists".
According to Bassam Hijjawi, director of the ministry's primary healthcare directorate, there are no accurate figures on mental health conditions in Jordan, "as not all those who have mental health problems seek treatment".
Citing World Health Organisation's estimates, he said only 17 per cent of mental health patients seek treatment.
"Social stigma is the main reason that prevents patients from seeking treatment," Hijjawi told The Jordan Times on Sunday, noting that this was one of the reasons for integrating psychological health services with primary healthcare.
He noted that the ministry had already equipped five primary healthcare centres to provide mental health services and plans to do the same with 10 more.
"We have trained doctors and nurses in these centres on how to detect symptoms of mental health problems among patients who go there seeking treatment for other illnesses," Basheer Al Qaseer, chief of the ministry's mental health unit, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.
According to WHO estimates, between 10 and 25 per cent of the Kingdom's population suffers from some type of psychological malady.
© Jordan Times 2012
