“Given the country population of about
45 million, this means one psychiatrist attends to almost 1,451,613
people instead of a recommended ratio of one psychiatrist to between
7,000 and 10,000 people,” she said. She added that there is also a
scarcity of other mental health professionals like clinical
psychologists, social workers as well as occupational therapists.
“All these plus other deficits in mental
health resources may significantly contribute to poor mental care in
some areas in the country,” she said. However, the Permanent Secretary
(PS) in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Donan Mmbando,
said that there were many challenges which cut across the health sector,
one being shortage of psychiatrists.
“We have taken drastic measures to
address this shortage by increasing the number of medical intake in our
local university since 2007. It is expected that our target of having
10,000 medical practitioners by 2017 shall be achieved under the Primary
Health Services Development Programme,” he said.
He explained that currently under the
Fifth Phase Government the ministry has been directed to build new
health centres and increase the intake of medical students and create
more jobs.
He said that the country was now
producing 700 medical experts every year from the previous figure of 35
doctors when there was only one university offering medicine degrees in
the country.
Dr Mmbando said that they were
addressing this shortage of psychiatrists by encouraging students to
pursue this specialization. “The incentive is to give priority to those
applying for masters degrees, if they are specialising in psychiatric,”
he said.
Continued from Page 1 Recently, the
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare revealed that 817,532 Tanzanians
were suffering from various degrees of mental illness. According to the
ministry’s statistics of 2014/2015, this number accounts for two per
cent of all Tanzanians.
The statistics show that there were
367,532 patients when compared to the 2013/2014 figure whereby the
number of patients stood at 450,000. The ministry’s report also
indicated that in 2013/14 mental health patients were made up of 332,000
women and 485,532 men.
However, Dar es Salaam Region leads on
mental health cases followed by Dodoma and the least patients are found
in Lindi, according to the ministry.
But Dr Swai further explained that
untreated mental health conditions account for about 13 per cent of the
global burden of the disease (including the disabilities and deaths that
result from the illness). She added that if the illness is left
untreated it can have serious impact in the life of the individual, the
caregiver, family surrounding society as well as the nation.
“Absenteeism from jobs due to disability
and the overall loss of productivity are the major impacts of the
untreated illness. Family distress and stigma associated with the
untreated symptoms of mental illness cannot be overlooked as well,” she
said.
She also said that people with untreated
mental illnesses stand a higher chance of suffering from other physical
illnesses like diabetes, heart diseases contributing to almost 80 per
cent of their deaths. She added that suicide is another cause of deaths
among mentally sick people.
Studies have shown that about 90 per
cent of suicides are associated with mental illnesses. “The behaviour of
using narcotic drugs including marijuana (bangi), excessive use of
alcohol, tobacco smoking and other drugs is higher among this population
than the general population,” she explained. These patients are also
more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse than others.
“Due to the existing high stigma and
discrimination towards these patients, they are less likely if not at
all to receive quality health care services,” she said. On the
treatment, Dr Swai said that if patients seek help early from health
professionals there is a high chance of complete recovery of the
symptoms and the possibility that this person will be functional in the
family/society like any other person.
“People should not ignore to seek help
for their mental wellbeing whenever they feel the need,” she said.
Meanwhile, some families have acknowledged that many mental health
patients have been suffering because of superstitious beliefs that
surround the circumstances of their homes.
Amina Ali (not her real name) said that
she was forced to take her son to a witch doctor just because the family
was pressing that the boy was possessed with spirits.
Another patient, Said Mkuku (not his
real name) who is just recovering from mental illness said that it was a
blessing that some members of his family were educated. They insisted
that he be taken to hospital.
“I am a living testimony of someone who
would have been in shambles had it not been for God’s intervention to
lead my family to take the right decision by taking me to a mental
hospital,” he said.
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