•The ministry said the overall prevalence of mental disorders in the country stands at 10, 823 for every 100,000 people.
•Kagwe, while citing a task force report produced in 2020 on the status of mental health illness in the country, seven categories of people are at risk.
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Nairobi and Central regions have the highest number of mental illness cases, data by the Ministry of Health shows.
The data presented to the Senate Health committee by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe show depressive disorder is the most common type of mental illness in the country.
The nine-member committee is chaired by Trans Nzoia Senator Michael Mbito.
“The current state of mental health is measured by the disease burden, epidemiological data, health facilities and systems reports,” Kagwe said on Tuesday.
In the report responding to a statement sought by nominated senator Gertrude Musuruve, eight counties from the Mt Kenya region are among the top 10 with a prevalence of 4,000 per 100,000.
This implies, four per cent of their population suffer from a depressive disorder.
They are Nyeri whose prevalence stands at 4,599 per 100,000 people, Kirinyaga whose rate stands at 4,551 for every 100,000 people.
Other counties are Murang’a (4,471), Embu (4,328), Taita Taveta (4,326), Nyandarua (4,272) and Kiambu (4,219).
Meru (4,215), Machakos (4,213), Laikipia (4,080) and Nairobi (4,077) have a high prevalence.
The report shows Nairobi has the highest disease burden in Kenya due to substance use disorder prevalence.
It shows at least 1,157 out of 100,000 people in the capital city are mentally ill due to substance use.
Nairobi is closely followed by Kiambu whose prevalence stands at 1,093, Kirinyaga 1,066, Mombasa 1,065, Nyeri 1,057, Murang'a 1,039, Taita Taveta 1,028 and Embu 1,007.
The ministry said the overall prevalence of mental disorders in the country stands at 10,823 for every 100,000 people.
“Prevalence rate of common mental illnesses showed 10.8 per cent prevalence of common mental disorders in the general population with 6.1 per cent due to depression and anxiety,” reads the report.
Kagwe, while citing a task force report produced in 2020 on the status of mental health illness in the country, seven categories of people are at risk.
They are adolescent and young people, people with disabilities, trauma survivors, security officers and displaced persons.
Others are veterans and marginalised groups including LGBTQ and older people.
Citing a study conducted in a community in Western Kenya in 2017, Kagwe said 45 per cent of the participants had a lifetime diagnosis of at least one of the mental health disorders.
Anxiety accounted for 15.7 per cent, depressive disorder accounted for 12.3 per cent while alcohol and substance use disorder accounted for 7.6 per cent.
“Some 42.3 per cent of persons attending general medical facilities in Kenya has symptoms of depression with only four per cent of them diagnosed by healthcare workers,” it shows.
The CS said the government has revamped the Mathari Mental Hospital to better attend to patients.
The state plans to build a mental health facility on a 200-acre land in Karen.
The facility will serve Kenyans and patients from neighbouring countries.
The ministry, he said, has recruited 134 psychologists who were deployed to all counties to provide mental health and psychological services.
“At the moment, due to increased demand for mental and psychological care, the national and county governments have embarked on the establishment of Tele-mental health services,” he said.
Kagwe said the National Taskforce on Covid-19 response, has key mental health and psychological committee.
The committee has continuously guided on technical and strategic interventions to manage and mitigate the adverse impact on population mental health due to the pandemic.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris