Covid-induced mental health issues trigger gender violence across Indian states: study

New Delhi: According to a study conducted by World Health Partners (WHP), a leading public health organisation, 25 per cent of Covid patients suffered from mental health issues across the states of Delhi, Gujarat and Jharkhand, which resulted in a spike in gender-based violence.

The study states that violence shows an upward trend in urban areas rather than rural.

In urban settings across all three states, the prevalence of mental health issues among men and women in the 35-59 age group was higher at 21.2 per cent, as compared to rural settings at 13.2 per cent.

77 per cent of gender-based violence-affected individuals were found to have mental health issues and a strong linkage between both is established by the study.

Further, the study also highlighted that 16 per cent of family members of Covid-19 patients reported having mental health issues.

"Learning from the project highlighted the Covid-19 pandemic's mental health impact by focusing on the need for accessing affordable and timely mental health care," said Prachi Shukla, Country Director - of World Health Partners.

"Increase in mental health issues has opened the doors for deploying low-cost digital technologies that can support the government's efforts in building stronger health systems," she added.

During the project duration, WHP's telehealth platform received more than 70,000 calls for mental health support.

The 18-month project was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and was implemented with technical support from institutions such as the Central Institute of Psychiatry (CIP) and Ranchi Institute of Neuropsychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS).

-IANS Input