Mental health: WHO calls for collaboration among nations to make health care accessible to all.

.Says 116m suffer mental health.

By AKOR SYLVESTER-Abuja

As the World marks the Mental Health Day 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on African Countries to work together and reshape the environments that negatively impact on mental health in the continent.

This is as the world health body said about 166 million people in African region are estimated to suffer mental health.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti in a message to mark this year’s World Mental Health Day, said that there is a need to strengthen the care systems to make mental health care accessible to all Africans.

Moeti who stated that this year’s theme: ‘Make Mental Health and Wellbeing for All a Global Priority’ is apt said, the theme serves as a reminder that, after about three years of social isolation, fear of disease and death associated with COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to an estimated 25% global rise in depression and anxiety.

She noted that suicide rates has remained a source of concern due to increase in alcohol use and abuse among adolescents.

According to the WHO boss, at least, 116 million people have been estimated to be living with mental health conditions in the African Region.

The global health body while lamenting inadequate financing for mental health issues in Africa said, there are fewer than two mental health workers for every 100 000 people, the majority of whom are psychiatric nurses and mental health nursing aids.

The WHO Regional Director emphasised the need to urgently strengthen regulatory systems to close the gaps that allow such young people to easily access alcohol, contributing to heavy episodic drinking rates as high as 80% among teens from 15 to 19.

World Mental Health Day is marked on October 10 every year. It provides an opportunity to draw attention to Africa’s large and growing burden of mental health conditions, with children and adolescents worst impacted. She said,

“The situation poses a serious threat to their education while setting the stage for a lifetime of alcohol abuse, and the associated risks of non-communicable and other related diseases.

“Inadequate financing for mental health continues to be the biggest limitation, negatively impacting efforts to expand Africa’s mental health workforce. As things stand, there are fewer than two mental health workers for every 100, 000 people, the majority of whom are psychiatric nurses and mental health nursing aids.

“With these scarce resources concentrated at large psychiatric institutions in urban areas, people at community and primary care levels are left critically underserved”, the

world health body stated.