Zimbabwe urged to empower traditional and faith-based healers for mental health support

ZIMBABWE should consider capacitating traditional and faith-based healers to provide legal counselling and psychological support to mental health patients.

This comes amid revelations that the country has only 40 registered psychologists, 38 of whom are in private practice and only two in government, while there are over 55,000 registered traditional healers and over 20,000 registered faith-based healers.

Mental health is a serious emerging issue affecting citizens both in private family spaces and in the workplace, thereby impacting productivity and other socio-economic activities.

This is a significant issue in Zimbabwe, especially where up to 30 per cent of adults have depression, while more than 50 per cent of young people also suffer from mental health issues, according to experts.

Speaking at the ongoing 15th edition of the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) Annual Conference in Victoria Falls, Mrs Edith Maziofa-Tapfuma, a lead and managing consultant at Vitality Wellness Zimbabwe, said there is a need to demystify mental health.

She stated that close to 1 billion people across the world have mental disorders and that depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, with depressed adults accounting for 5 per cent.

“There are 55,000 registered traditional healers and over 20,000 registered faith-based healers. Perhaps we should admit traditional and faith healers as psychologists,” she said.