Government announces expansion of mental health service line 811, free and confidential

The Government anu Santo Domingo.- President Luis Abinader, along with Vice President Raquel Peña, led the presentation of the progress made by the Dominican State in mental health at the national level, focusing efforts on preventive actions, strengthening primary care, community participation, and social integration. In that sense, they highlighted that during this 2026, the mental health services line 811 will be expanded, replacing the traditional number 809-200-1400, which provides free and permanent care, making it more accessible to the population. Likewise, the number of beds for patient care will be increased from 137 to 500, and work will begin on the creation of the National Institute of Neuroscience, which will have a clinical and research area. Also, drug detoxification units will be enabled. With this, the Government seeks to ensure that people suffering from some mental health disorder can have more years of life, that deaths from trauma decrease, that primary care is increased and improved, as well as the dispensing of medications. The plan was announced this Monday by the Minister of Public Health, Víctor Atallah, and the director of the National Health Service, Julio Landrón, who emphasized that this government administration is the one that has allocated the most resources to address mental health.

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"Work will be done intensely and we are going to show great achievements," Atallah pointed out, stating that the catalog of medications was expanded and the coverage provided by insurance for their acquisition will be increased. The seven programs that make up this plan seek to bring mental health closer, provide emotional support, guide the young population, provide care, provide continuity of treatment, improve emotional health and accompany the community.

“Mental disorders have increased more than ever, more than a billion people worldwide (12% of the world's population) have suffered, or suffer from, some mental disorder,” added the minister.

In another aspect, he said that 37 new protocols were worked on with an emphasis on primary care and national coverage and reported that the National Mental Health Assistance Contact Center extended its working hours until 12 midnight. To date, it has received more than 16,000 calls and has protocols to refer to clinics and specialized care. Strengthening the legal framework After consulting with international organizations and experts on the subject to strengthen the legal framework, in August 2025 the proposal to amend Law 12-06, on mental health, was submitted to the Senate of the Republic, focusing on prevention, community action and better primary care and social integration. Role of the NHS The director of the National Health Service (SNS), Julio Landrón, highlighted that they currently have 18 Crisis Intervention units, of which 17 have Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), 65 rooms for patient admissions and 137 beds nationwide, with the goal of increasing to 89 Crisis Intervention Units and 500 beds by the end of 2026. The Public Health Network has 202 hospitals. Of these, 57 belong to the third level and 32 to regional hospitals. In addition, there are 1,384 First Level Centers (CPN), 84 diagnostic centers, 234 clinics and 1,982 Primary Care Units (UNAP). There are also 767 centers trained in the mhGAP strategy (WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme), 174 psychologists in the CPNs and 53 psychologists in diagnostic centers.