Uganda sees surge in mental health cases – govt

Uganda is the sixth country in Africa with the most mental disorders, the Ministry of Health has revealed.

In an interview with the Monitor yesterday, Dr Hafsa Lukwata, the assistant commissioner of mental health and control of substance abuse at the Ministry of Health, said reports from regional and national referral hospitals indicate that there is an increase in the number of mental health cases registered.

“We have not done a nationwide survey to show exactly how many people are sick but the small studies we are doing and [based on] the situation [in] the regional referral hospitals and Butabika National Referral Hospital, the number of people reporting [with] mental illnesses have actually gone up,” she said.

Dr Lukwata added that at the beginning of the year, a “small” survey was conducted in schools and communities. The preliminary findings indicate that very many people are suffering from anxiety whereas others are suffering from depression.

“The survey looked at how far people understood mental health within communities, within schools and workplaces. Although the final results will be released during the World Mental Health Day celebrations which will be held on October 31, it has been established that there are a lot of people [suffering from] anxiety, depression and substance abuse,” she said.

The study established that one in every five people suffer from depression with the majority being poor women and those in their reproductive ages.

It was also discovered that anxiety was higher among people in rural areas (68 percent) than in school children (34 percent). There are more women than men who suffer from depression, however, there are more men with anxiety and taking substances than women.

In May last year, the Ministry of Health and the Uganda Counselling Association reported that an estimated 14 million Ugandans suffer from a form of mental disorder with every 35 out of 100 battling a mental health problem.

Civil society organisations, which focus on mental health, blamed this on the devastating effects of Covid-19.

Mr Derrick Mbuga, the executive director of Mental Health Uganda, said at the peak of Covid-19, mental health clinics at regional referral hospitals were turned into Covid-19 treatment centres. This meant that many mental health patients were unable to receive care causing them to relapse. He also said some people developed mental health problems during the pandemic.

“This is very challenging since it comes at a time when mental health financing is still a big problem with only below two percent of the health budget going into mental health and of which 85 percent of this mental health budget goes to Butabika National Referral Hospital.”

The communications officer in the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Mr Frank Mugabi, called for responsible parenting to ensure that substance use is fought right from home.

“Our role is to bring about wholesome families where you have responsible parenting, where parents are in charge of the behaviour of their children but also where the children play their roles and duties diligently. The children and the youth have a role to play in terms of behaviour change by ensuring that what they do rhymes with society norms,” Mr Mugabi said

Background

Issue

In 2017, the American Psychological Association reported that mental, neurological and substance use disorders were the major public health burdens in Uganda.

Depression, anxiety disorders, and elevated stress levels are the most common, sometimes leading to suicide attempts.

According to the 2017 World Health Organisation report on mental disorders, 2.9 percent of Ugandans live with anxiety disorders, affecting 5.1 percent of females and 3.6 percent of males.

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