PROBLEMS OF ACCESS TO PSYCHIATRIC CARE IN THE SITUATION OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article provides an analysis of access to mental health care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on data from international documents and modern publications. Accessibility is seen as free access to health services regardless of geographic, economic, social, cultural, organizational or language barriers. The author also illustrates the problem of access to psychiatric care on the example of studies conducted in the Republic of Belarus. Emphasis was placed on the problems of providing drug treatment and prevention of coronavirus infection in people with drug dependence syndrome. It has been established that in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to increase the availability and quality of psychiatric care, new approaches to organizing the work of psychiatric hospitals and clinics are required, including those recommended by the World Health Organization.