(Antigua Observer) – Prime Minister Gaston Browne has suggested that he may reconsider the government’s plan to refurbish the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witness facility into a behavioural health facility following a conversation with experts from Pan American Health Organisation on his weekly radio programme.
In January 2025, the government spent US $3 million (EC$8.1 million) to acquire the facility located at Sea View Farm with plans to convert it to the Antigua and Barbuda Institute for Behavioural Health.
However, during last Saturday’s programme, the Prime Minister suggested that he was unfamiliar with research showing integrated mental health services produce better outcomes than standalone psychiatric facilities.
The discussion arose as PAHO consultant Dr Sumitra Pathari and advisor Taraline Malcolm outlined plans for new mental health legislation to replace Antigua and Barbuda’s outdated 1957 colonial-era laws.
Dr Pathari explained that research showed that standalone psychiatric hospitals are expensive and produce poor outcomes, while integrating mental health into general healthcare reduces costs, stigma and improves patient access.
“If you integrate mental health into general health care, it is cheap. Secondly, it reduces the stigma because it’s like you just go to a general hospital because you broke a foot. You go to the general hospital because you’re feeling depressed,” Dr Pathari said on the programme.
