A programme to train leaders in the health system to address mental health in Africa through a public health and human rights lens was launched during the 77th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Africa CDC introduced the Mental Health Leadership programme (MHLP) at a high-level side-event, attended by five health ministers including those from Burkina Faso, Burundi and Cabo Verde, their senior ministry of health staff and representatives from the World Health Organisation.
The Wellcome Trust, which has funded numerous African mental health research projects and initiatives, concentrates on anxiety, depression, and psychosis is supporting the programme.
In Africa 120 million people are struggling with mental health conditions. While efforts to address these challenges are underway, mental health services are limited. There are 1.4 mental health workers per 100,00 people. Outpatient mental health visit are significantly lower with 14 per 100,000 visits annually.
"Mental health policies in Africa are mostly outdated and poorly implemented," Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of the Africa CDC told the launch.
Less than 2% of health budgets are allocated to mental health; of the 2% allocation, 90% are targeted towards psychiatric institutions located in the capital cities. This means there is no link of mental health care to primary health care and limited support at community levels.
"This programme will help us to work together successfully and collaboratively to address these mental health issues that can affect all of us," said Dr Kaseya.
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"This programme will create a cohort of leaders who understand and can advocate for context-specific, evidence-based approaches to mental health in their countries," said Wellcome Trust CEO John Arne Røttingen.
Røttingen said an integrated approach, with scientists working hand-in-hand with policymakers, is essential to ensure research addresses the right questions and breakthroughs are implemented when tackling these conditions. "That's why we are so excited to be working with Africa CDC on this programme," Røttingen said.
David Bainbridge, the executive director of CBM Global, an international organisation that advocates for the involvement of people with disabilities and are being involved through the design and delivery of the programme, said the programme could "make a significant progress not only on the wide treatment gap in access to mental health services but also to apply good public health practice to reduce the drivers of mental health conditions and the negative impact on wellbeing."
"We underscore the need to take a human rights approach to mental health which means that, in addition to the personal suffering that results from experience of mental health symptoms, we're particularly concerned about the experiences of stigma, social exclusion and abuse experienced by people affected. You're often denied access to basic rights like family life, livelihoods, even personal autonomy and freedom," explained Bainbridge The Africa CDC is working with the African Field Epidemiology Network, CBM Global Disability Inclusion, and other vital institutions on the continent to develop the curriculum's domains and ensure successful implementation of the programme.
