The ordinance that launched the program also provides for the creation of a unified epidemiological database; the measure comes into force on February 1st
The Ministry of Defense launched the Armed Forces Mental Health Prevention and Surveillance Program on Monday 15th, focused on intervening on mental and behavioral disorders of active military personnel.
The ordinance creating the program, signed by the minister José Mucio Monteirowas published in official diary of the Union and will enter into force on 1 February.
Educational actions, training of teams operating in the sector and standardization of mental health prevention and surveillance activities are planned. The Ministry of Health is expected to contribute to the exchange of information on the topic at a national level.
You can also consult other nations and international organizations to share experiences and knowledge about how these issues are addressed abroad.
The Secretariat of Personnel, Health, Sports and Social Projects will be responsible for coordinating the plan and will be assisted by a committee made up of technical representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the Navy, Army and Air Force commands. The college will have a consultative nature and will also have the task of monitoring and evaluating activities, as well as carrying out studies and research relating to the prevention and surveillance of mental health in the Armed Forces.
In addition to implementing educational and awareness-raising actions on mental health prevention and surveillance, the program will create a unified epidemiological database, with which it will be possible to monitor cases of disorders found among military personnel.
There is currently no specific data on mental health in the Brazilian Armed Forces. Data from the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report, published in June 2022, shows that, worldwide, nearly 1 billion people were living with some mental disorder in 2019.
Data obtained through the Access to Information Law by data agency Ficam Sabendo revealed that, between January 2020 and April 2021, more than 1,600 mental disorder licenses were approved for military police officers in the state of São Paulo . Depression, alcoholism and anxiety are among the causes of leave requests.
While the military police do not answer to the Ministry of Defense, the data is a portrait of how mental health issues affect the country’s armed forces.
Source: Terra
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