Mental Health Policies

Having been born in Zimbabwe where mental health is not taken seriously or as an important issue and being raised in the UK were I have come to gain some understanding and realization on the matter of mental health, I am greatly affected when I notice how far this country has come within its education and grasp of mental illness as well as social inclusion to those with mental health issues, as

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

A national strategy for promoting mental wellbeing and mental health is No Health Without Mental Health.

The articles address the prevalence of the issue of mental health and claims the importance of policy reform at all levels of society.

Although about 450 million people in the world currently are suffering from a mental illness, many untreated, the topic still remains taboo in modern society (Mental Health). For years, people with mental illnesses have been shut away or institutionalized, and despite cultural progression in many areas, mental illnesses are still shamed and rarely brought to light outside of the psychiatric community. The many different forms in which mental illness can occur are incredibly prevalent in the world today, and there is a substantial debate about the way that they should be handled. Some people are of the opinion that mental illness is merely a variance in perception and that it either can be fixed through therapy or should not be treated at

Access to mental health care is not as good as than other forms of medical services. Some Americans have reduced access to mental health care amenities because they are living in a countryside setting. Others cannot get to treatment for the reason of shortage of transportation or vast work and household tasks. In some areas, when a

Mental health: new understanding, new hope, the theme of a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001 (1), demonstrated a remarkable recognition of mental disorders globally. Since then, policymakers and researchers have increasingly raised their voices and commitment to improving the health and well-being of people with mental disorders. Despite this, empirical evidence suggests a large and persistent gap in access to health services by people with mental disorders in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) particularly in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). (2, 3)Therefore, this study aimed to identify and explore available evidence to the persistent gap and propose a model to improve access and utilisation of health services by

Access to mental health services is distributed unevenly across countries, with low and middle-income countries (LMICs) lacking proportionate access to human resources and treatments. Developed countries only carry a small portion of the global mental health burden, and yet they are most equipped to treat patients. In need of a more sustainable method of providing mental health services within the confines of cost and time, LMICs have begun to explore the option of task-sharing, in which mental health care is conjointly or selectively provided by a trained community member with preexisting or nonexistent experience in health-related functions. If treatments and interventions conducted by non-specialists are comparably effective to those

Barriers to mental health care in the region have included the shortage of education for primary health care providers about mental disease, the deficiency of trained mental health care specialists, the shortage of resources in improving countries, and the censure of mental disease in Middle Eastern cultures2,4. Instruction for the treatment of depression has not been developed in most countries of the region

50,000 per day die due to poverty-related causes. Those living in poverty suffer disproportionately from hunger or even starvation and disease.Those living in poverty face shorter life expectancies. According to WHO, hunger and malnutrition are the single gravest threats to the global public health and malnutrition is the biggest contributor to child deaths. Those who live in poverty have a greater chance of being disabled within their life. Infectious disease such as malaria and whooping cough can perpetuate the cycle of poverty by taking money for investment and productitivty to healthcare and economic resources. Financial worries can take a toll on one’s mental health and therefore, can cause mental illness which cost money to treat and reduces one’s quality of life.(6)

Liberia, a country with 3.5 million population has only one mental specialist, Dr. Benjamin Harris and one psychiatrist hospital, E.S. Grant Hospital, which is not even a public hospital. It is practically nonexistent because of little or no support: wreck facility, lack of more psychiatrists and outpatient service dysfunctional. This is a gross disproportion to the increasing mental health related illnesses budding in a country where citizens suffered 14 years of civil war with increasing post war traumatic mental health problems.

In South Africa, one in three women have a mental problem during or shortly after the pregnancy period [Field & Honikman 2015; Mental Health and Poverty Project (MHaPP) 2010]. This statistic is three times higher the rate in developed countries (MHaPP 2010). Mental illness is common in South Africa since many women develop psychological stress during and after pregnancy (Field & Honikman 2015). Women vulnerable to mental illness include those: living in poverty, experiencing violence or abuse, with HIV/AIDS and those with unplanned pregnancy (Field & Honikman 2015).

The Life Esidimeni is one of the largest government-funded hospitals in South Africa, which have provided healthcare services to indigent persons for over fifty years (Pather, 2017). In a long-standing affiliation and funding agreement with the Department of Health Services and Social Development, the Life Esidimeni-hospital is often the most relied upon institution for the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of chronic mental health care users (Makgoba, 2017; Motsoaledi,

There have been a strong advocacy by the mental health practitioners to strengthen the elements of public health such as public health intelligence, interventions and infrastructure in addressing mental health services during international conferences (11). This has led to the Ministry of Health in Malawi to plan for the interventions dealing with the disease prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of the patients once they have recovered from any condition (4). Although the ministry has no specific mental health strategy and policy, guidelines exist within the Malawian legal framework which have directed major reforms in the health sector since 1964 (7).

However, it is recognized that there is still a lot of ill health that is related to diseases of poverty and ignorance. Of the six WHO regions in the world, the African Region bears the heaviest burden of disease (WHO, 2000). Effective and efficient implementation of national and local policies can reverse this trend. Indeed, the world press (2008) opined that a critical challenge for countries in Africa is to move from policy to action in the health service delivery. This move from policy to action should be grounded on each country addressing its priority health needs and mobilizing its people to improve the state of health service delivery at personal and community levels.