Abasya Mental Hosptial refused to admit a homeless man into their premises based on the legal claim that he has no first-degree relatives.
Residents from the area claim that the man has been camping outside the hospital for more than two months! They decided to take action and admit him into the hospital.
It was revealed that the man had already been a patient at the hospital, serving a penitentiary sentence which was recently concluded.
“I can’t just let anyone in from the streets,” said Wael Fouad, the hospital manager. He added that the release was approved according to a report by the National Council of Mental Health. The report was issued based on judicial order.
He also expressed that he can’t break the law and readmit the “patient” into the hospital without any legal basis—those being either a first-degree relative’s approval or another judicial order.
We tried to contact the hospital to acquire further information, to see if it would be possible to help and to validate the problem. However, when we tried to contact the numbers on the hospital’s page, they were not working.
Whether the call was made after the hospital’s working hours or the lines aren’t active, that we don’t know for sure.
What if there’s an emergency, something like a mentally-ill person in need of a quick, prompt and humane help? How would they provide that then?
Again, the number may have been changed or there could have been maintenance recently. Even so, there must be active and fast solutions to such situations.
…Then What Should We Do?
Mental illness in Egypt has gained a lot of awareness lately; humane treatment should be more available now.
A hotline should be available in case of emergencies, or at the very least, if the line cannot provide such services, it should at least provide assistance and guidance to people in similar situations, to properly help them.
When it comes to people who were detained based on mental illness, there should be an effective rehabilitation program. There should be a what’s next program to give them something to look forward to and live for.
Source: Youm 7
