Health minister says country in midst of worst-ever mental health crisis

Health Minister Uriel Buso says that the country is in the midst of its worst-ever mental health crisis amid the ongoing war.

“We are experiencing the largest mental health event the state has known since its establishment. A crisis that requires us, as a state and a society, to change perceptions and upgrade the public mental health system once and for all to meet the challenges posed by the war and the future,” he says at the Enosh Mental Health 2024 Conference in Tel Aviv.

Buso says that ministry assistance to the HMOs to treat mental health issues will double to about 600 million shekels in 2025.

“It is very important to focus on actions that create resilience,” he says. The ministry has taken “several significant steps to make the system less deficit-ridden and more stable, with financial certainty and the ability to invest wherever needed,” he says.

“Since October 7, we have increased the capacity of resilience centers at a cost of tens of millions of shekels,” he says. “Thousands of Israelis have been treated to date.”

He says the ministry has integrated new technologies, expanded mental health crisis teams, and trained mental health support professionals.

“Today, mental health is the most important issue in the healthcare system,” adds Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, Health Ministry director general.