[ad_1]
Mental health affects many and affects everyone. The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated the situation; we now have reports of more cases of mental illness than ever before.
The anguish of mental illness is alive in everyone; We are all one step away from meeting a victim of suicide, drug abuse, gender-based violence, and the increasing incidents of child abuse. More painfully, behind these acts is the culprit: illness, which most of the time we treat with shame and stigma rather than cure and compassion.
We need to change this paradigm. We need to provide accessible and affordable mental services to all Kenyans. A child born with Down syndrome or autism deserves a childhood without ruining his parents.
Our role as a nation is to offer support not only to people with mental disorders, but also to empower caregivers. In this sense, the government is committed to working with people with lived experiences as well as with their communities and families.
The days when our patients were hidden or chained to stalls behind our houses or children with mental disorders were a plague on society should be long gone.
Mental health challenges
We must create a society that not only welcomes people with mental health problems, but also does not fear the financial impact of caring for them. The government must intervene to create a better health system for mental illness.
The Ministry of Health has developed and implemented the Mental Health Policy 2015-2030, the objective of which is to achieve the highest level of mental health. This is in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “Big Four Agenda”, which emphasizes universal health coverage.
Sign up for free AllAfrica newsletters
Get the latest African news straight to your inbox
It seeks to integrate mental health services within the Kenya Essential Package for Health (KEPH) to improve availability and access while addressing systemic challenges and emerging life trends. It also provides for capacity building for individuals and communities to address mental health issues.
The Ministry of Health is developing a mental health action plan as well as a suicide prevention strategy to address mental health problems.
Appropriate medication
We are facing all mental health problems. Last year, the government established a Mental Health Task Force that presented a series of recommendations, which we are committed to gradually implementing.
They include the establishment of a modern neuropsychiatric hospital with four satellite facilities. We are also working with county governments to operationalize regional mental health centers to ease the patient burden at Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital.
We are committed to the provision of appropriate medications for mental illness under UHC while working with partners in the Quality Rights Mental Health Initiative that focuses on the human rights approach to mental health care for patients and caregivers, including the public education to reduce stigma and promote dignity in care. and recovery.
Mr. Kagwe is the Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Health.
