Better care likely for mental health patients under new policy

Care for mental health patients is likely to improve now that the government has launched the country’s first policy on managing mental disorders.

The guidelines are intended to help in enacting laws and identifying gaps that have undermined services for years.

This comes 28 years since the World Health Organisation (WHO) member states agreed to formulate a policy to guide patient services.

All along, mental health specialists and facilities like Mathari Referral Hospital have been operating on guidelines drawn from both the Mental Health Act and the Health ministry’s procedures.

But now, the ministry says, the "Mental Health Policy 2015-2030" will not only streamline the laws guiding the neglected area but also help in drafting more laws to govern the practice and the care offered to patients.

“We have not been operating in a vacuum but the policy was necessary to guide how laws are enacted as well as identifying gaps in the sector,” Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu explained.

He added: “With this policy, we intend to attain high standards of care for these patients.”

One of the key areas the policy touches on is that of human resources, recommending that the government not only increase the number of specialists through training but also recruit community mental health workers.

At least one in every four people (11.5 million Kenyans) will suffer from some form of mental illness at one point in their lives, health experts warned.

In addition, another 20 to 40 per cent of all patients seeking outpatient services at health facilities across the country have one or more mental disorders.

Mental illness refers to a wide range of conditions — disorders that affect one's mood, thinking and behaviour.

Globally, an estimated 450 million people have a mental disorder, with almost three-quarters of the global burden occurring in middle- and low-income countries.