site.btaHealth Ministry Considers Establishing Mobile Teams for Emergency Psychiatric Care

An algorithm for emergency psychiatric care is being developed, including psychiatric care centers, psychiatric departments and the bodies of the Interior Ministry, and the creation of mobile teams for providing emergency psychiatric care is being discussed, said Mladen Penchev from the Ministry of Health during an international conference "Mental Health in the Context of Crisis and Vulnerability", organized by the Bulgarian Red Cross.

“In times of cataclysms, society is sick, we must find ways to heal it, said Prof. Krasimir Gigov,” Director General of the Bulgarian Red Cross. “When there is a catastrophe, over 70% of people need psychological support. We have over 1,000 volunteers trained to provide psychological assistance and over 300 qualified psychiatrists ready to provide assistance,” added Prof. Gigov.

“The times we live in present us with unprecedented challenges that reinforce the need for a proactive and scientifically based approach to mental health,” said Dobromira Kareva, Deputy Minister of Health.

Focusing on mental health is vital assistance for the benefit of all, because resilient societies are the basis of sustainable economic growth, said Maria Christensen, head of the IFRC Cluster Office for Central and South-Eastern Europe. Members of the Red Cross communities have long experience in seeing how natural disasters and conflicts can impact mental health, she recalled.

The forum was attended by Mariana Tosheva, Chairperson of the State Agency for Refugees, Baylar Talibov, IFRC Ukraine and Impacted Countries Operation Coordinator, medics, representatives of the Greek Red Cross, UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and representatives of the Ukrainian community in Bulgaria.