Many people with mental health problems do not list themselves on the government employment agency’s disability register, which means that if they look for a job they will not be given the necessary support.

Of the 6,589 people who registered for unemployment for the first eight months of this year, only 55 were listed as suffering from mental health problems, Employment and Training Corporation CEO Claudio Farrugia said.

Although there are no statistics in Malta on the number of people who suffer from mental health problems, a European survey published in February indicated that 15 per cent of Maltese would suffer some form of mental health problem at some point in their lifetime. This was not mirrored in the ETC statistics indicating that only 149 out of 1,072 registered disabled people suffered from mental health problems between 2007 and 2009.

Mr Farrugia called on those with mental health problems to enlist on the agency’s disability register as this would allow them to benefit from support offered through special programmes. Unfortunately, he said, some people with mental health problems insisted on applying for jobs through the ETC’s mainstream schemes. This meant they did not benefit from help that included tailored training courses, work exposure schemes and employment wage subsidies.

Mr Farrugia was speaking during a seminar, organised by the Richmond Foundation, to mark World Mental Health Day tomorrow. The seminar also formed part of the activities organised to mark the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

Mr Farrugia announced the ETC planned to reactivate a joint employment support programme with Richmond that had to be stopped due to lack of funds. The programme provides work placements for people with mental health problems and follows up their progress while at work.

Richmond CEO Dolores Gauci welcomed the news of the reintroduction of the programme.

Parents of mental health patients had long complained about the gap in employment support for people like their children.

Although Richmond offers supported housing and helps clients live independently, there is no system helping people with mental health problems find jobs and keep them. The ETC programme would help fill that gap. The lack of employment support was one of four points listed in a petition being circulated by the foundation. The petition also calls for the enactment of the new Mental Health Act, which has been in the pipeline for over eight years, and a national strategy on mental health.

It calls for people with mental health problems to be entitled to medicines given by the state. As things stand, only those who suffer from schizophrenia are entitled to receive free medication.

Mental health problems sufferers are at a higher risk of poverty as they find it difficult to find and retain a job. Those who live on benefits face the added expenses of medicines.

Caritas Malta coordinator Leonid McKay pointed out that research, carried out with the help of the National Statistics Office, looked into the weekly costs incurred by an average, healthy family of two adults and two children. The average family spent about €313 a week on essential items. However, people with mental health problems on social benefits received between €104 and €115 a week when they also had to face medical expenses.

The petition can be signed online at www.richmond.org.mt/petition. A hard copy can be signed at the foundation’s offices in Sta Venera.

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