More funding needed for mental health

Members of Parliament sitting on the parliamentary forum on mental health have decried the increasing cases of suicide in public by use of guns.

They urged the government to increase the funding needed for mental health.

The remarks were made by Member of Parliament for Bugweri  district, Racheal Magoola in a stakeholder meeting on issues regarding mental health.

Among them included Ministry of Health representatives, Members of Parliament, Civil Society Organisations and many more .

The meeting was held at Strong Minds Uganda head offices in Bugolobi .

The acting country director of Strong Minds Vincent Mujune speaking (Photo by Sharon Nabasirye)

Magoola noted that there is a difference in the way people behave today, there is obvious anxiety shootings and many other uncertainties that are shocking Ugandans all manifesting mental health issues getting worse by the day.

She noted that now, they are aiming at lobbing the budget committee to see firsthand what needs to be done to improve the budget for mental health because today, there is very little amount allocated for mental health considering the amount of work needed to be done to mitigate the mental health issues in Uganda.

 The assistant commissioner of mental health and substance use, Hafsa Lukwata noted that her main challenge today is that there is no data about mental health issues in Uganda rather the data available is one for the World Health Organisation which indicates 25% of the general population.

She noted that the absence of this data hinders them from even knowing which places are at the highest risk of depression and the research survey calls for funding.

MP Racheal Magoola entertaining people after her speech (Photo by Sharon Nabasirye)

She appealed to government to increase the funding for mental health because there is no machine that is going to test depression in people rather trained personnel to meet different individuals diagnose them and offer therapy when needed.

She reported that there is a myth among youth that drugs reduce depression and diseases something she disagrees with when she noted that these drugs have increased depression and mental illnesses among those that use them thereby appealing to the youth to abstain from drug use.

The acting country director of Strong Minds, Vincent Mujune noted that for the past 10 years, it was hard to convince even the general public of the importance of mental health but today the signs are warning loudly to consider mental health.

Bosco Otulo (on the left) , next to him is Hon. Racheal Magoola in a group photo with some of the people that attended the meeting (Photo by Sharon Nabasirye)

He noted that women have been placed so low due to the social and cultural construct and in a way, those dynamics are potentially responsible for triggering depression. He added that adolescents are another group where eyes should also put focus for mental health.