Ley 1616 de 2013: the Colombian mental-health law from the nursing side
- Law
Ley 1616 de 2013 makes mental health a right and a priority, lists patients' rights and organises the care network, with nursing in the team.
What it is
Ley 1616 de 2013 is the Colombian mental-health law. Its aim is to guarantee the full exercise of the right to mental health, giving priority to children, adolescents and young people, through promotion, prevention and integrated care within the health system and primary health care. It defines mental health, lists the rights of people in mental-health care, orders promotion and prevention actions, creates a comprehensive service network with defined modalities, makes primary care the entry point, requires interdisciplinary teams that include nursing, protects health workers in mental health and sets up participation, the Consejo Nacional de Salud Mental and the national policy. It was substantially amended by Ley 2460 de 2025 and in part by Ley 2564 de 2026.
Key articles
- Art. 1 (amended by Ley 2460 de 2025): guarantees the full exercise of the right to mental health, prioritising children, adolescents and young people, through promotion, prevention and integrated care within primary health care.
- Art. 3 (amended by Ley 2564 de 2026): mental health is a state of well-being that lets people use their resources to live, work, relate and contribute; it is a fundamental right and a public-health priority.
- Art. 5: definitions, among them primary prevention, integrated care, mental disorder, psychosocial problem and psychosocial rehabilitation; Ley 2460 de 2025 added protective environments and community mental-health agents.
- Art. 6: rights of people in mental-health care (information, specialised care, least restrictive interventions, psychoeducation, civil rights, no discrimination or cruel treatment, informed consent, confidentiality, reintegration); services must display them.
- Art. 11 (amended by Ley 2460 de 2025): care is not only medical; it is biopsychosocial and community-based and includes training in crisis care and psychological first aid.
- Art. 12–13: a comprehensive public and private network with referral and counter-referral and eleven modalities, such as outpatient, home, prehospital, community mental-health centre, day hospital, community-based rehabilitation, mental-health unit and psychiatric emergency care.
- Art. 15: the first level of care is the entry point to the system.
- Art. 18: providers must have a suitable interdisciplinary team that includes nursing.
- Art. 21: occupational-risk insurers support programmes on psychosocial risk for mental-health workers.
- Art. 22 (amended by Ley 2460 de 2025): primary and prehospital mental-health teams must hold a degree in medicine, psychiatry, psychology, nursing or prehospital care, with ongoing training in crisis intervention.
- Art. 23–25: children and adolescents receive comprehensive, preferential mental-health care, school integration and specific services.
What it covers
- Rights of people in the mental-health setting.
- Promotion of mental health and prevention of mental disorders, including at work.
- Comprehensive, integrated care and the service network.
- Health workforce, participation, the Consejo Nacional de Salud Mental and the national policy.
- Information and surveillance systems.
In nursing practice
- The art. 6 rights are the frame for consent, confidentiality and the least restrictive option on any unit.
- Nursing is named in the interdisciplinary team and in primary and prehospital mental-health teams.
- Referral and counter-referral mean planning the return of the person to primary care and community follow-up.
- Psychoeducation for the person and family is a right, and nursing delivers much of it.
Status and official text
- Texto oficial verificado el 2026-11-13 en secretariasenado.gov.co (Ley 1616 de 2013 with its notes; Ley 2460 de 2025 and Ley 2564 de 2026).
- Ley 2460 de 2025 (16 June 2025, Diario Oficial 53.153) replaced arts. 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 20, 22 and 36, changed parts of arts. 5, 6 and 29, added paragraphs or numerals to arts. 9, 15, 25, 27 and 32, and added art. 36A.
- Ley 2564 de 2026 (8 January 2026, Diario Oficial 53.361) amended art. 3 and added to arts. 30 and 31 on digital violence against children and adolescents.
- Ley 2460 de 2025 also has its own articles, for example conscientious objection of mental-health workers (art. 7), support for caregivers (art. 18) and continuity in dispensing medicines (art. 36).
- The national policy ordered by art. 31 is now Decreto 729 de 2025 (see the policy page); check secretariasenado.gov.co for later amendments before quoting an article.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
Which laws have amended Ley 1616 de 2013?
Mainly Ley 2460 de 2025, which changed many articles, and Ley 2564 de 2026, which changed art. 3 and added to arts. 30 and 31.
Which article lists the rights of people in mental-health care, and where must it be shown?
Article 6. The list must be displayed in a visible, accessible place in services, including their virtual channels.
Which level of care is the entry point to the network according to the law?
The first level of care, within primary health care (art. 15).
Does Ley 1616 de 2013 include nursing in the interdisciplinary mental-health team?
Yes. Art. 18 lists psychiatry, psychology, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, psychosocial therapy and general medicine, among others.
Elsewhere in DurgiPedia
Connections
Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order.
Sources: Ley 1616 de 2013, por medio de la cual se expide la ley de Salud Mental y se dictan otras disposiciones (Secretaría General del Senado de la República de Colombia, 2013); Ley 2460 de 2025, por medio de la cual se modifica la Ley 1616 de 2013 (Secretaría General del Senado de la República de Colombia, 2025); Ley 2564 de 2026, salud mental y violencia del entorno digital en niños, niñas y adolescentes (Secretaría General del Senado de la República de Colombia, 2026).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.