Manam Scheme Launched for Tamil Nadu College Students to Promote Mental Health Awareness!

The Manam scheme has been launched in all the government-aided medical and dental colleges on a pilot basis.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramaniam launched the Manam Scheme for Tamil Nadu students pursuing medical exams. The scheme was launched at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. MANAM stands for Mind Health Support Forum - Mananala Nallaatharavu Mandram. Apart from the minister Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar and Mission Director of National Health Mission-Tamil Nadu Shilpa Prabhakar Sathish also graced the college during the launch.

This move has been lauded by experts as we saw an increase in the number of suicide cases amongst students who failed to clear the NEET examination. The scheme has been launched on a pilot basis in only government-aided medical and dental colleges in the state. In simple terms, health ambassadors will be assisting and counselling the students via a helpline and connect them to a psychiatrist for further help.

Talking about the scheme, the primary motto behind the launching of the scheme is to address the mental health issues that are faced by medical students. In order to make sure that they enjoy good mental health, the department shall be setting forums in the medical colleges initially that will be expanded later on.

In order to make it work, small teams consisting of the college dean, HODs, assistant professors, and students who wish to volunteer will be asked to counsel those who are in distress. They will not only help the students but will also conduct training camps across the states to conduct mental health training.

Manam helpline will be launched soon in all medical colleges to counsell students who need it for their mental well being.