Are you a Nairobi resident who is depressed or battling a mental health condition? Help is coming closer.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Service is unveiling mental health and psychological support services in 32 city health facilities.
The services include psychotherapy and counselling, mental wellness clinic, psychiatry, school mental health, community mental health, child and adolescents’ mental health assessments as well as epilepsy clinic.
This comes at a time when data from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations revealed that Nairobi recorded 64 suicide and 39 assault cases in only three months between March and June 2021.
Consequently, NMS has released a list of facilities where mental health services can be found.
Residents can access the services in all level 4 facilities; Mbagathi Hospital in Lang'ata, Mutuini Hospital in Dagoretti South, Mama Lucy Hospital in Embakasi West and Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Kamukunji.
The Level II and III facilities in Embakasi East subcounty include Mukuru kwa Njenga, Embakasi East and Soweto-Kayole health centres and Dandora II, Kariobangi North and Kasarani health centres in Kasarani subcounty.
In Makadara subcounty there are Lunga Lunga, Makadara and Jericho health centres while Lang’ata, Kibera Amref, and Kibera DO health centres are in Lang’ata subcounty.
The remaining centres are Waithaka and Uthiru-Muthua in Dagoretti South subcounty and Mathare North and Kahawa West health centres in Ruaraka.
In Westlands there are Kangemi, Westlands health centres, Mji wa Huruma dispensary and Lower Kabete Health Centre while Kayole II and Umoja health centres are in Embakasi West.
In Starehe, there is Ngara Health Centre and Ngara Methadone Clinic as well as Ngara Child-Friendly clinic.
The Ngara Child-Friendly clinic is the only centre providing child and adolescents’ mental health assessments services between Monday and Friday.
The centres will be supplemented by community units in Embakasi East, Westlands, Makadara, and Ruaraka, which will offer community mental health services.
Umoja 1 MCA Mark Mugambi had earlier raised concerns over a mental health problem, noting that is a serious lifelong and disabling condition and without the right support, it can have profound effects to individuals and families.
“There is a lack of physical test or scanning services in county health facilities that can reliably indicate whether a person has developed a mental illness. This is despite many Nairobi residents experiencing mental health problems, which has been exacerbated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic," he said.
He urged NMS to develop a county mental health policy to address mental disorders and broader issues that promote the illness.
NMS director-general Mohamed Badi last Friday said recruitment of psychiatrists and mental health experts has already commenced and will be deployed across the health facilities.
This will ensure mental health services are offered in the county without any deficiency.
“The recruits will be deployed in all the level 3 hospitals across Nairobi to ensure mental healthcare services are offered without fail,” he said.
“We do not want to lose our youths and thus why we decided to dedicate our health services to take care of mental health,” Badi added.
