Country has only 270 psychiatrists for 220m people, moot told.

LARKANA -- Speakers at a moot on mental health of children have lamented that there are only 270 psychiatrists and not more than 500 clinical psychologists for 220 million-plus population of the country, which caused scarcity of medical facilities for the patients affected by psychiatric disorders and depression.

They were addressing an awareness session on the 'Mental Health of Children: Teaching and Parenting' held at Indus School in collaboration with Rotary Club International Mohenjo Daro on Friday.

The keynote speaker on the occasion was consultant psychiatrist Dr Zulfikar Ali Rahujo.

Dr Rahujo speaking on the 'Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Remedies' said that psychiatric disorders and depression in children gave rise to difficulties in learning and performance. It also impacted the maintenance of human relationships negatively, he added.

For positive results, understanding the nature and nurture of a child was essential to guide him properly and effectively because the nature determined the genetic code, biological clocks, genetic disease and the first words of language of children while the nurture set environmental determinants of his upbringing.

He emphasised that educators and parents had to understand the children in that context for their proper teaching and parenting. He also said the population of Pakistan was exceeding 220 million while there were only 270 psychiatrists and not more than 500 clinical psychologists in the whole country, which caused scarcity of medical facilities for the patients affected by...