Logroño, Mar 16 (EFE).- The plenary session of the Parliament of La Rioja approved this Thursday the first regional mental health law, which guarantees the right of people to consistent care in this matter.
It is established that, in the next 5 years, minimum ratios of 18 psychiatrists and as many clinical psychologists per 100,000 inhabitants are reached, compared to the national average of 6, in the latter case; and 23 mental health nurse specialists.
The purpose of the law for people with mental health problems and their families in La Rioja is to guarantee the right to protection of mental health through its promotion, disease prevention, assistance, care and rehabilitation of users of mental health. services in the field of mental health.
People with mental health problems and those with psychosocial disabilities, as well as their families, are also included through the creation of a legal and regulatory framework based on respect for human rights, and guaranteeing access to assistance .
The approved text, a bill promoted by IU, contemplates the promotion of a new model of community mental health care and addictions, from a quality biopsychosocial integrating vision that is developed in the educational, labor and social fields.
This impulse will extend to promotion, protection and rehabilitation programs and activities, details the new law, which advocates guaranteeing, through transversal programs, the coordination of mental health care devices with other institutions and non-health devices involved in the community mental health care.
The President of the Government of La Rioja, Concha Andreu, has indicated that this law seeks to avoid “normalizing that so many people need medication to continue living” and that emotions such as sadness and fear “become pathologies and become stigmatized.”
In addition, he recalled that, according to the WHO, in 2030, mental health problems will be the main cause of disability in the world and about 11 percent of the Spanish population consume tranquilizers, relaxants or sleeping pills.
