OZMA - the national forum of families of people with mental illness - is a non-profit organization with groups active in Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv and central area,  Haifa and the north, and the Beersheva area.  We represent the families of people affected by mental illness nationwide in a variety of spheres.

All of our members are close family members of people with mental illness and participate on a strictly voluntary basis.

The chairman of the organization is Professor Eli Shamir.

IN THE NEWS

• Haaretz - 12.05.10

 

Mental health services in dire state

By Dan Even

Public mental health services are in a dire state, the annual state comptroller's report warned yesterday. The report found extensive waiting lists for psychiatric hospitals and clinics and said psychiatric hospitals suffered from neglect.

Moreover, a reform meant to transfer responsibility for mental health to the health maintenance organizations has been on hold for a decade - but meanwhile, the Health Ministry has made minimal investments in the clinics under its responsibility. The ministry received NIS 100 million to boost service at these clinics, but only used NIS 27.7 million.

In May, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is slated to tell the High Court of Justice what he has decided to do about the reform, which his office is now studying.

The report quotes directors of government hospitals as saying that Israel never mapped communities' mental health needs, and in some locales, treatment is provided for only the most urgent and serious conditions, like schizophrenia.

As an example of the neglect of Israel's psychiatric hospitals, comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss described the moldy walls of Jerusalem's Kfar Shaul facility, which he termed unfit for patients to live in.

The report also slammed rehabilitation services for psychiatric patients who are released to the community. "Hundreds of patients who deserve this service cannot receive it because no appropriate framework was set up," the comptroller wrote.

The Health Ministry responded that the planned reform has been delayed by the HMOs. "But at this stage, there is no ministerial-level decision on how to proceed," the statement added.

The ministry denied that it used funds intended to beef up mental health services to cover deficits at government psychiatric hospitals. "The problem is not that the budget for mental health has fallen, but that the increase has not kept up with demand," it added.

One HMO, Leumit, said the reform has been discussed for 15 years now, but meanwhile, the ministry is still responsible for mental health care. "Nevertheless, Leumit recruited scores of psychiatric specialists for community clinics beginning in 2009, and today does not have any waiting list problems," its statement said.

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• Mental health insurance reform - now
  ELI SHAMIR , THE JERUSALEM POST   - Jun. 9, 2009

The National Health Insurance Law defines the entitlements and the basket of health services available to all residents suffering from physical maladies. But mental disorders are provided for separately and ambiguously - mainly by direct government budget and services (including hospitalizations in psychiatric hospitals) and partly by the health funds (through their medications basket), with no clear responsibility delegated for ambulatory services.

After years of attempts to reform the system, a government-sponsored mental health insurance reform act mandating complete integration of mental and physical health services is now on the Knesset agenda. It was approved for its first reading in July 2007 and is now being processed in the Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee - more....