On November 21, 2019 while chairing a Cabinet meeting, President Kenyatta directed the Ministry of Health to establish a taskforce on the status of mental health in the country.
The President noted with great concern the growing problem of mental health among Kenyans, which has lead to, the very extreme, people killing and maiming close family members. The taskforce went around counties engaging in public participation forums, collecting views and listening to the people.
During the ground breaking for the construction of ultra-modern Kenya International Mental Wellness Hospital in Ngong, Kajiado county, in June, the President said he had received the report from the taskforce and his government was working on the recommendations.
He also called upon various health stakeholders to assist in coming up with frameworks to eliminate the stigma associated with mental illnesses across the country.
What can legislators in the 13th Parliament do in this regard?
The 13th Parliament should assist in coming up with concrete laws and policies that will streamline the mental wellbeing of all Kenyans.
A report by the World Health Organization last year placed Kenya fourth with the highest number of depressed people in Africa and ninth globally with about 1.9 million depressed people. The report also indicated that five in every six Kenyans who suffer from mental illness do not receive treatment. This calls for a major attention into this issue. A nation can rarely develop if citizens are not productive due to issues to do with mental health.
Article 43 of the Constitution guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which is a state of complete physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing and not merely being without disease. I, therefore, beseech our lawmakers to emulate other African countries such as Zambia and Ghana that have made laws to ensure the mental stability of their citizens.
I challenge the lawmakers to enact a bill that proposes compulsory mental health education in all our schools. This way, students can be introduced to this topic at an early age. Teachers will also be well positioned in recognising mental health problems in the students and help them seek appropriate help. Since health is a devolved unit and as a way of avoid stigmatization across the country, the bill should also emphasize on the need for monthly civic education in all the villages.
This will ignite a conversation in families where parents or guardians can freely discuss this topic with their children. The idea is to create a strong bond between families where they can discuss what is ailing them and come to a logical conclusion in an amicable manner.
The bill should also suggest a proper process of recruiting and deploying of psychologists in all the health centres across the 47 counties. These healthcare workers should also be well remunerated to motivate them in treating and giving counseling to Kenyans.
Lawmakers should also work on ensuring each citizen has a NHIF cover, which is affordable. It is sad to note that Kenya does not have a budget on mental health. This is something they should also consider to ensure that each financial year, there is enough allocation of money towards this across the country. In Africa, an estimated 60 per cent of healthcare financing comes from private sources. We should thus have laws that will strengthen public-private partnerships to ensure a sustainable budget in this area.
Lastly, studies have shown hard economic times fuel mental illnesses. I beseech to our legislators to enact laws that will see to it that citizens are economically empowered to become productive.
As the saying goes, a healthy nation will automatically lead to a wealthy nation.
Alex Gikima is a YALI RLC EA Fellow, Cohort 40
