in2mentalhealth

This article is a trip through the current mental health field of Africa in 28 recent articles from 14 African countries. Mental health facilities, legislation and capacity building on the African continent are amongst the poorest of the world. But there are improvements, developments and off course many many challenges left.
On October 10 2012 it’s the 20th Anniversary of the World Mental Health Day. After this day was initiated by the World Federation for Mental Health in 1992, many countries adopted it as a means of promoting mental health. The African continent could use some extra attention on this day.

1. Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe: Treat Mental Illnesses Traditionally, all.Africa, July 2012
Zimbabwe: ‘Mental Health Drugs in Short Supply’, all.Africa, July 2012

2. Democratic Republic of the Congo
DR Congo Mental Health, Southworld, January 2012
Notes From a Young American in Congo: Mental Health, New York Times, august 2011

3. Uganda:
32 psychiatrics for 34 million Ugandans, New Vision, May 2102
Uganda’s only national mental health facility opens to public, Key Correspondents, June 2012

4. Kenya:
Kenya: Poor state of mental healthcare, Irin News, November 2011
Kenya doctor fights mental health stigma in ‘traumatized continent’, CNN, January 2012

5. Somalia:
Mental health of a war-torn Somalia, Al Jazeera blog, August 2012
Somali capital struggles to provide mental healthcare, The Guardian, April 2012

6. Somaliland:
In Somalia’s Shadow, VQR online, winter 2012
Welcome New Member, Horizon org, Somaliland, E. Africa, February 2012

7. Eritrea:
Eritrea’s Doomed Generation, Awate, September 2012
Bottlenecks in the provision of quality mental health services in Eritrea, Journal of Eritrean Medical Association, 2008

8. South Sudan:
Mental Health Services Absent for Traumatized South Sudanese, Reliefweb, August 2012
South Sudan: Urgent need for mental healthcare, Irin News, 2012

9. Libya:
Mending mental health in Misrata, The Lancet, November 2011
Libya faces mental health crisis, UQ news Online, August 2012

10. The Gambia:
Mental Health Stakeholders’ Council launched, The Point, August 2012
The Gambia, Maribu (traditional healer), the RC of Psychiatrists, July 2012

11. Sierra Leone:
Living in Chains: Sierra Leone’s Mentally Ill, Ronald Marke, June 2011
The Faces of Mental Illness in Kono, Sierra Leone, Wellbody Alliance News, May 2011

12. Liberia:
Struggling to Rebuild Mental Health Myth, Negativity Barriers For Post-War Liberia, Front Page Africa, August 2012
Liberia’s Mental Health Services: Building from the Ground Up, Think Africa Press, August 2012

13. Ghana:
Ghana: Disability Rights Convention Ratified, Human Rights Watch, August 2012
Ghana: People With Mental Disabilities Face Serious Abuse, Human Rights Watch, October 2012

14. South Africa
Empowerment and Collaboration in Mental Health, Journal of Pakistan Medical Students, September 2012
Mental health service delivery in South Africa from 2000 to 2010: One step forward, one step back, South African Medical Journal, 2011

Roos Korste, psychologist, trainer, blogger