Mental health hotline busy: Doc

By LULU MARK
NEARLY 300 people have called the Covid-19 mental health hotline seeking assistance and guidance, a doctor says.

Dr Uma Ambi, the acting director of the Social Change and Mental Health Service directorate, said many people were worried and anxious about the Covid-19 and how to cope with their individual challenges.
Dr Ambi said the hotline 79074944 was set up on March 25. And around 60 per cent of the people who called were men.
She said the callers included organisations, health workers, Covid-19 persons of interests, people with disabilities, those unemployed due to the lockdown in urban areas and villagers from border provinces.
She said it was encouraging to know people getting together and calling with the phone on speaker for group counselling.
“People need to speak with somebody they can trust to be mentally strengthened and we helped them by listening and giving them the opportunity to talk,” Dr Ambi said.
“We are doing counselling, prescription, consultation and case referrals over the phone.
“The four regional mental health doctors are in touch with mental health nurses in their provinces conducting training and meeting virtually to enhance and expand our service at this point in time.”
Dr Ambi said some people requested “please call” and messaged the hotline, expecting a call which the team tried to respond to but could not reach everyone.
She said the challenge with running a hotline was that the four doctors could not respond to everyone who indicated the need for help because they were doing this with cost out of their own pockets.
“We are running the hotline to support the government and help people and we are happy doing this but we run out of credits and that is our only challenge. We would appreciate support not in cash but kind from anyone.”
Dr Ambi thanked the media for the good partnership which continued to deliver mental health messages, especially during the Covid-19 situation.

College facing quarantine problems, says teacher

By SAMUEL BARIASI
A TEACHERS college in Port Moresby is finding it hard to quarantine students and staff in compliance with a government directive, because of space issues.
Sacred Heart Teachers College deputy principal (academic) Rose Polume told The National that the college was still waiting for the National Capital District health authorities to respond to their concern.
“We are asking for a building to quarantine our students and staff. But who is going to give us that building?” she said.
She said the Government would know how to assist the college if statistics of all schools were available.
“Directives from the Government should be clear and specific, based on actual assessments of schools’ situations,” she said.
She said unclear information from the Government could discourage parents and students.
“The Government needs to keep (track) of what’s happening in schools to help (in its decision-making) when things such as a state of emergency occur,” she said.
Polume said the academic calendars and programmes for teachers’ colleges were different from other higher education institutions.
“Social distancing should not be a problem for us because we have only about 300 students with an average of 32 students per class.”
She said classes at the college resumed on Monday with strict emphasis on social distancing and good hygiene practices.
She said lost hours of classes would be reclaimed by shortening the semester and study breaks.

Treat mental health seriously, says Sios

MENTAL health should be at the forefront of healthcare and be included in major health decisions in the country, businesswoman Janet Sios says.
She owns and operates the Paradise Private Hospital with husband Dr Robin Sios, and is the director of Joies Tailoring, a fashion design company.
She raised her concern after noticing that the Covid-19 had left many people “anxious and suffering quietly in their homes without knowing where to get mentally strengthened”.
She said mental illness required medical attention just like any other illnesses. But since it cannot be seen or understood, it has not received due attention and support.
“Mental illness is real and it’s affecting people,” she said. She said PNG society, where family members were always there for support during tough days, was changing.
The current generation is getting isolated and becoming more like Western society where people are more or less on their own and independent, she added.
“It’s a big issue in this country and I really feel that we have not paid attention to it and we really need to as a Government. We are losing a lot of young people to mental health issues,” she said.
“Mentally they are not strong and they revert to drugs and other illicit activities or they eventually take their own lives. Even though it is not in the forefront, I want us to be aware that mental health is a big issue.”

Schools warned to ensure students are not psychologically affected

SCHOOLS must ensure that students are not psychologically affected by the loss of classroom hours and the restrictions imposed during the state of emergency, a teacher says.
Sacred Heart Teachers College deputy principal academic Rose Polume said the lockdown and restrictions had the potential to affect students’ ability to concentrate and understand what was being taught.
“We must do all we can to ensure they are not worried but are focused on learning and completing their studies,” she said.
Polume said students who remained on campus during the lockdown were given the opportunity to do gardening, exercise and engage in non-contact sporting activities to keep them occupied.
“We have started classes on Monday (April 27) but some of our students in Gulf and Central are still waiting to get clearance from authorities to travel back to school,” she said.
She said students would focus on revision. Actual resumption of classes would begin next week when everyone is back.
Third-year student Urelei Kabai said she was worried about completing her studies and graduating at the end of the year.
“We are happy that the Government has allowed classes to resume so we can graduate at the end of the year,” she said.

Barker: Allow people to export, sell farm produce to survive

By DALE LUMA
PEOPLE should be allowed to export or sell local agricultural produce to safeguard the family income at this time, an economist says.
Institute of National Affairs executive director Paul Barker was asked yesterday to explain how people could deal with the current economic situation.
“Enabling producers of export crops, local food and other agricultural products to market their produce is crucial to safeguarding household incomes at this time,” Barker said.
He said the Treasury Department had estimated a K2 billion revenue shortfall, and the need to further increase borrowings to make up for that shortfall, and to fund government health operations and relief measures for those negatively affected by the lockdown.
“These includes emergency food relief for those worst affected,” he said.
“Clearly, borrowing comes at a cost for Government and has to be repaid – by younger people in future. So it’s not something to be done lightly. Local or international interest rates are not as cheap to the PNG government as they are to the US or other developed countries’ governments.
“Some of the financing of the 2020 budget shortfall will need to come from the Central Bank, lending to the Government (or quantitative easing).
“These normally would be inflationary, but is not considered so risky at this time of deflationary pressures.
“This will later entail fiscal stimulus to sustain and boost economic activity. But at this stage, when a level of restraint is still applied to economic activity, it’s more about sustaining jobs, incomes and household welfare.
“Some major new projects would also provide an economic stimulus, and boost to investor confidence.”
Barker said the economy had already been in a tight situation before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived.
“Economic and employment growth had been at a standstill for some years,” he said. “Various constraints, such as the shortage of foreign exchange, continued to restrain businesses, together with longer-term constraints.
“Little substantial new investment had occurred for some years and major projects expected to be given the go-ahead remained on hold.”