Counselling service provider Empower Pacific is calling on Government to focus on mental health because of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Fijians.
This formed the basis of its submission to the Economy Ministry for the 2021-2022 National Budget.
CEO Patrick Morgam said the pandemic was taking its toll on the mental health of many Fijians, thus the need for more focus on the issue in the budget.
“We had a budget consultation with the Minister for Economy, CSO consultation and we did request for more support for mental health and psycho-social support in this coming budget,” he said.
“We understand the Government has a financial situation at hand given the loss of revenue, we basically understand that it’s very difficult but we have suggested to the Ministry of Economy to ask bilateral partners to assist us.
“We are grateful that we have DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia) and MFAT (New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) that are supporting us and they have supported our programs in recent tropical cyclones and we rely on donors to support our work.”
Mr Morgam said if there was an avenue that could be taken regarding mental health issues, the focus could be on seeking bilateral partners assistance to assist Fiji.
He said they had to deal with thousands of Fijians whose mental health had been affected as a result of the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
