Plan to relocate mental hospital from Mathari to Karen on course

The government's plan to relocate mental care services from Mathari to 200 acres in Karen, Nairobi, has reached top gear.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Friday met with officials from Group San Donato and San Raffaelle Research Hospital in Milan to review the building plan and design of the proposed mental facility.

The construction is to be achieved through a public-private partnership involving both local and international investors.

The new mental hospital will be renamed the National Teaching and Referral Neuropsychiatric Centre and is expected to provide better care and more rooms and ease pressure on staff.

The current facility, the Mathari National Referral Hospital located along Thika Road, will be upgraded for other medical purposes.

The partnership will train psychiatrists and psychologists for the new hospital and the rest of the country. Kagwe said it will be the focal point and driver in organising the new national mental care model.

“The new centre of excellence will be the cornerstone of the national mental health reforms that aim at decentralising care delivery and improving access to care, besides bringing down the cost of mental health treatment and psychiatric services," he said.

“While a lot of gains have been made in the overall improvement of physical health status, the rising burden of mental ailments threatens to reverse these gains.”

The new facility will be similar to the San Raffaele Research Hospital in Milan, Italy, a highly specialised multidisciplinary medical centre and one of the biggest in Europe.   

The meeting in Italy follows the signing of an MoU between Kenya and Group San Donato in July, a collaboration meant to enhance health services in the country.

The agreement seeks to provide an enhanced local health sector that will guarantee quality services to all Kenyans and propel the country into a regional centre of choice for different diagnostics and advanced treatment.

The country has witnessed an exponential rise in the number of mental disorders in recent years, with statistics indicating that 20 to 25 per cent of outpatients seeking primary healthcare present symptoms of mental illness.

A taskforce on mental health inaugurated in December 2019 recommended a raft of measures, including declaring mental health a national emergency.

It also recommended the formation of a mental health commission and happiness to advise, coordinate and continuously monitor the status of mental health in the country.

"It is sad to note that mental health conditions remain a silent epidemic due to stigma, discrimination, reduced access to treatment and psychosocial support," Kagwe said.

He said other factors are compounded by increased demands and expectations of life, poverty, unemployment, domestic conflicts, competitive lifestyles and efforts to achieve beyond means.

The situation has been worsened by the severe mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A lot of work is going on to transform Mathari. We have a competent board and teams there working to change the face of Mathari,” mental health taskforce chairperson Dr Frank Njenga said.

Health ministry data show mental illnesses in Kenya are a significant cause of ill-health. About 25 per cent of outpatients and as much as 40 per cent of inpatient visits involve diagnosable mental health conditions.

The country has witnessed an unprecedented rate of suicide, with an estimated mortality of 5.6/100,000 population.