Right to Health of Persons with Mental Illness in India A study with special reference to the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017

The World Health Organisation defines health as, “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. A perusal of this definition makes it abundantly clear that mental health of a person is as important as physical health. The patients suffering from mental illness face a lot of taboos in the society and it becomes very difficult to treat and rehabilitate such patients. Mental illness has been looked upon from a completely different spectacle in the nation leading to a situation wherein people often tend to hide their mental issues and refrain from sharing the same with anyone due to the risk of being ridiculed and looked down upon by the society. People are afraid to even disclose about their mental illness due to the fear of being cut off by their relatives and friends. In such a social setting, it becomes too difficult to protect the patients with mental illness and ensure that their right to health is equally protected as that of the others. The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 was enacted with a view to ‘provide for mental healthcare and services for persons with mental illness and to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare and services and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto’. The Act lays down the various rights of the persons with mental illness in order to ensure that their right to health is protected but more than often it is seen that the rights as enumerated by the Act remains a dead letter while the patients are languishing and waiting to realise their right to health.