Stigma and discrimination against mental health patients keeps them out of hospitals, thus worsening cases of mental illnesses in communities.
Dr. Margaret Mungerera, of Mulago Hospital, who is a consultant psychiatrist, says that lack of information sometimes makes family members and even lower level health workers to ignore mental health problems until they are very advanced.
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According to Mungerera, between 20 to 40 percent of the population at any one point is likely to suffer mental health problems. She however explianed that the problems would vary from mild to severe illnesses.
Alcohol, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS are some of the emerging catalysts to the escalating cases of mental health in Uganda.
Experts describe the mental health situation in Uganda as a double burden. The high levels of stigmatization are coupled with inadequate mental health services in the public health system.
Dr. Florence Baingana of the Makerere School of Public Health says that ideally, all hospitals should have daily out-patient mental health services, but in Uganda, this is only available in a few. She calls on government to avail drugs for mental illnesses at least at Health Centre IIIs.
The overall capacity for Uganda’s health system to handle mental health problems is currently at 64 percent, according to Baingana.
Mental health is allocated only 4 percent of the national health budget. Dr. Baingana says that this increased from the government allocation of 0.7 percent only after 2001, when Uganda got an African Development Bank Loan.
A report released at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011 shows that mental health problems cost countries 16 trillion dollars in lost productive hours, more than half of the total cost (30 trillion dollars) of non-communicable diseases worldwide.
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