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Thandeka Moyo, Health Reporter
THE shortage of psychiatrists in Zimbabwe has resulted in many people failing to deal with social ills in the country, a factor blamed for rising suicide cases.
Zimbabwe has only 14 psychiatrists, and two of them operate in Bulawayo.
The shortage of psychiatrists comes at a time when the country is experiencing increased cases of mental illnesses which include depression, anxiety, bipolar and schizophrenia.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care estimates that about 1, 3 million Zimbabweans have mental disorders.
According to a medical Non-Government Organisation, MSF, lack of interest in mental health issues by Government and civic society compared to other ailments is making the situation worse.
“There is not much funding from the donor community towards mental health in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s public health system is currently underfunded. In 2000, the government was able to resource 62, 3 percent of the national health budget, this dropped dramatically to 38,3 percent by 2014 and funding levels continue to decline,” says MSF head of Mission in Zimbabwe, Ms Abi Kebra Bilaye.
“Mental health which can sometimes be less visible than other health concerns such as communicable diseases has fared even worse. In 2017, the Ministry of Health and Child Care received only 10 percent of its requested budget for mental health resources.”
Mpilo Central Hospital clinical director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said most mental patients were suffering in their homes with no chances of diagnosis due to a shortage of specialists.
“The last I checked we had two psychiatrists who are serving at Ingutsheni and other psychiatric institutions in the region. This means we have lots of patients who are suffering with no one to diagnose and it explains why we have an increase in suicide and gruesome murders,” said Dr Ngwenya.
“We need more trained personnel to help our people deal with depression and other issues. Our livelihoods have resulted in many people suffering from depression and it is the reason have we have lots of suicide cases in our communities.”
Last year, the Ministry of Health and Child Care launched mental health discharge guidelines to reduce the number of patients who relapse after being discharged due to lack of healthcare and support systems.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression is also the leading cause of disability in the world.
@thamamoe
Online Reporter