Uganda is struggling to check the prevalence of suicide and other mental health issues, despite the establishment of certain laws to address them.
Development Diaries reports that Uganda’s failure to implement health laws and policies is leading to the rising prevalence of mental health challenges across the country.
Suicide, one of the major mental health issues in the East African country, is the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds globally.
Suicide rates are so high among vulnerable groups who experience discrimination, conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, a sense of isolation, and others.
In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that suicide deaths in Uganda reached 2,033, or 0.98 percent of total deaths, in 2020, with a death rate of 10.45 people per 100,000 people.
In 2023, 153 attempts at suicide, 35 deaths, and 17 repeated suicide attempts were recorded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country.
This worrisome trend, amongst both Ugandans and refugees from other countries, highlights the poor implementation of the country’s Mental Health Act 2018, which repealed the Mental Treatment Act.
For instance, one of the primary provisions of the law is the availability of mental health treatment at primary health centres.
However, according to the International Journal for Equity in Health, only 71.73 percent of Ugandans are within a one-hour walking distance of the nearest health centre.
Also, most of these facilities are poorly equipped to provide first-responder treatments to mental health patients, as highlighted during a meeting between government entities and mental health activists.
‘In the meetings we had with government entities and hospitals, they admitted to the challenge of a lack of first aid for mental health challenges and training models’, a suicide prevention trainer and mental health advocate, Stuart Kasule, is quoted as saying.
The integration of mental health services into general health care, and task-sharing with non-specialist care providers in primary health care are urgently needed to address the country’s mental health needs.
Development Diaries calls on the Uganda Ministry of Health to collaborate with the country’s lawmakers to ensure mental health services are integrated into the country’s general health care services.
We also urge the ministry to ensure that all primary health care facilities are fully equipped and staffed to attend to the immediate needs of the Ugandan people.
Photo source: Alex Green
