NCHR, Fahim Foundation address mental patients, medical professionals rights

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), on February 1st, 2024, chaired by Ambassador Moushira Khattab,PhD,  welcomed Ambassador Nabila Makram, Founder and Chair  of the Board of Trustees of the Fahim Foundation for Mental Health, and MP Tarek Radwan,Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives, along with the accompanying delegation. The meeting addressed the rights of both patients and mental health practitioners, as well as the challenges they encounter.

 

The meeting addressed a number of issues, namely:

- A mental health law should be drafted to ensure the rights of both the mental patient and the psychiatrist. Furthermore, all Egyptian laws should be reviewed to safeguard the rights of the mental health patient and to comply with the constitutional provisions, particularly with respect to the obligation to align national legislation with international treaties.

- Training and rehabilitation are essential for everyone who interacts with the psychiatric patient.

- Media, social media and religious institutions should raise awareness about mental health issues.

- Collaboration with international and regional organizations and learning from the experiences of other countries in addressing  these segments of society are necessary.

- Civil society organizations that focus on mental health should be supported and involved.

- The NCHR’s efforts in this domain should be evaluated through the field visits that were conducted to psychiatric hospitals (Khanka, Abbassia, Assiut and Sohag), as well as to correctional facilities, in addition to the workshops that the NCHR organized in partnership with the National Council for Mental Health, the General Secretariat for Mental Health and civil society organizations that specialize in mental health, and the recommendations that emerged from these sessions.

- The meeting was also attended by Ambassador Mahmoud Karem,PhD , Vice President of the NCHR; Ambassador Fahmy Fayed, Secretary-General of the NCHR; Dr. Wafaa Benyamin and Dr. Mohamed Mamdouh, NCHR members and researchers from the social and economic committees in the council.

- This meeting was part of the NCHR’s action plan in collaboration with the European Union to promote the values and principles of human rights within the framework of the national strategy for human rights launched by the President of the Republic.