The rising cases of suicide in the country have been linked to the increase in mental health among Kenyans hence the government has declared suicide a national disaster.
According to the ministry of health, one in every four Kenyans suffers from mental health translating to 25 percent of the population.
The focal person of mental health in the ministry of health Nasri Omar who was the chief guest during the launch of the Kilifi County Costed Mental Health and Disability Action plan 2022- 2026 added that mental health conditions in Kenya cost the Kenyan economy Sh. 62.2 billion which is equivalent to 0.6 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020.
“Investments in mental health will give us productivity gains worth Sh. 161 billion over ten years. There are conditions that are of very high returns on investments which are epilepsy, depression and anxiety and all this is going to enable the country to get huge economic benefits due to having a mental health population,” she said.
The Kilifi County government projects that it will require a budget of not less than Sh. 500 million to implement the program.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for health Charles Dadu said that the county has four mental healthcare centres in Kilifi, Mariakani, Malindi and Mtwapa towns which receive an accumulative 1,200 mental health cases every month most of whom are admitted.
“Statistics show that those admitted are 40 percent but they are not really madmen but affected mentally and 25 percent are treated and go home. In all our centers we get 60 new cases,” he said.
The Kilifi County program manager at the Department of Gender and Youth, Gladys Etemesi said that many people are victims of mental health but women suffer the most and ironically men die the most.
“Many women are patients of mental health due to Gender Based Violence (GBV) because when men are depressed they resort to violence against women to vent off. We don’t have direct data but we are working on that data within this program,” she said.
Mr. Geoffrey Kira, a programs officer at Basic Needs organization that fights for the rights and health of victims of mental health said that they are engaging the community and stakeholders to see how mental health challenges can be controlled in the country
IAN BYRON