Table 3 Areas of low concordance between the Indian Mental Healthcare Act (IMHA) and the World Health Organization’s “Checklist on Mental Health Legislation” (WHO-RB) (World Health Organization, 2005)
Legislative issue | WHO-RB designation | Area of omission |
|---|---|---|
The rights of the family | E1-4 | Limited rights when they are not the nominated representative |
Non-protesting patients | H1-3 | Not considered in the IMHA, patients lacking capacity admitted as a supported admission |
Involuntary treatment in the community | L1-2 | Not directly mentioned outside the context of emergencies, no clear safe guards |
Determination of mental illness | N1a-b | No guidelines for necessary level of training or category of professions who can determine mental illness |
The rights of minorities | Z2-3 | No review body monitors the involuntary admission of minorities and no reference is made to refugees or asylum seekers |