Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Parliament to address mental health

Photo: Facebook/Mental Health

With 137 votes in favour, the National Assembly has set up a temporary committee to protect the rights of the mentally ill. 

The committee will examine violations found in the country by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment at the end of March this year, as well as those reported by the Bulgarian Ombudsman. 

Legislative amendments are being prepared. The sponsors of We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria aim to abolish compulsory detention and deinstitutionalise mental health institutions. "Obviously, the authors have no idea what compulsory detention under the Mental Health Act is - on what occasions, when, how and in what way it is imposed," said Branimir Balachev of GERB.

The European Committee report said that patients complained that orderlies shouted at them and hit them, that rooms were often overcrowded and conditions in wards were distinctly prison-like, and that staffing was grossly inadequate.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

EU Commissioner candidate Zaharieva supports funding for defence technology

"I support the allocation of more funds in the field of innovation for defence" - this is how the Bulgarian candidate for the post of European Commissioner for Start-ups, Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, answered a question by Bulgarian MEP..

published on 11/5/24 1:56 PM

Vice President Iotova presents replica of a Thracian phial to the mayor of Los Angeles

Vice President Iliana Iotova met with Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass. Iotova paid a visit to the American city on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World. Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania..

published on 11/5/24 11:26 AM
Vesna Bendevska

The rulers in Skopje continue to repress the Bulgarians in Bitola

The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of North Macedonia, Vesna Bendevska, has reported to the Prosecutor's Office in Bitola that the Bulgarian cultural club "Ivan Mihailov" in the city continues to function, despite its deletion from..

published on 11/5/24 10:47 AM