Following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), implemented a series of services and programs to respond to the emotional health problems experienced by people during periods of confinement.
Since January 2024, Ecuador has had an Organic Law on Mental Health that establishes the legal framework for its approach in the country. In view of this, the Ministry of Public Health (MSP) is working on the National Mental Health Policy to direct actions towards the promotion and prevention of risk factors in mental health problems, provision of services with emphasis on the first and second level of care, recovery and inclusion, long-term care and socio-community inclusion, in addition to prioritizing the training and education of its staff.
Within this framework, the service of Line 171 (option 6) offers its services of telephone attention to people undergoing mental health crises, uses and problematic drug use, in coordination with the rest of the services involved in meeting the demands related to the mental health of Ecuadorians. In this service, between January and September 2024, a total of 23,486 people have been attended, according to sources from the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador.
