MANAS Application launched

The Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India recently launched a mobile application to promote the mental wellbeing of the people of India. It is called the MANAS App.

About the MANAS App

  • MANAS stands for Mental Health and Normalcy Augmentation System.
  • It is a comprehensive and national digital wellbeing platform.
  • The MANAS integrates indigenous tools developed and researched by various national bodies and research institutions.
  • The MANAS app was jointly executed by NIMHANS Bengaluru, C-DAC, AFMC. However, it was mainly developed by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing).
  • The app is supported with tele consultation especially for mental health related problems.
  • The app was launched during the 34th Foundation celebrations of C-DAC.

COVID-19 and mental health

  • The pandemic is increasing mental health problems. According to Practo, an integrated health care company, there has been 665% jump in the number of mental health consultations. Most of them were in the age group of 21 to 40 years.
  • In United States, 90% of the survey respondents of Harvard Medical School complained of frustration, worry and anxiety.
  • The Global economic cost of mental illness has been estimated as 16 trillion USD in the next twenty years. This is more than the cost estimated for any other non-communicable disease.
  • The pandemic increased isolation and loss of income. These were the two main reasons for increased mental problems due to the pandemic.
  • Also, COVID-19 has halted mental health care services in 93% of the world.
  • According to WHO, the countries are spending less than 2% of health budget on mental health.

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