Mental health crisis silently ravaging African youth, researchers reveal

APHRC programmes director Andre Pascal, Ministry of Health’s Bashir Issak and APHRC executive director Catherine Kyobutungi in Mombasa on Tuesday / BRIAN OTIENO

One in eight young people aged between 14 and 19 across Africa has a mental health disorder, a study has shown.

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) Friday said this represents 12 per cent of the population.

“This is a silent crisis that does not get the due attention it deserves,” APHRC executive director Catherine Kyobutungi said.

Speaking in Mombasa, Kyobutungi said the mental health crisis in many countries in Africa has not got the attention it deserves because in most cases, mental health disorders are silent and only manifest when it is already too late.

The APHRC boss said most of those suffering mental health issues do not even now it, until the condition gets extreme.

This is the major reason mental health is usually not given priority which is why it is underfunded when it comes to treatment, management and research.

Kyobutungi said the study shows that a paltry one per cent of research funds goes to mental health.

She said because of the low funding, the understanding of the magnitude of the problem and the solution is consequently low, therefore even investment in treatment and care also automatically becomes low.

“I wouldn’t have a number off my head about how much we invest in treatment and care but I don’t think it is sufficient to deal with the kind of problem that we have on our hands,” she said.

“When mental health research is underfunded, there is the danger of not finding solutions to mental health issues, which consequently affects productivity,” she said.

She was speaking during the final convening of the Mental Health Data Prize – Africa (MHDP-A) an initiative which has been running for the last two years.

MHDP-A is an initiative that supports African-led teams to develop innovative, evidence-based, and community-driven approaches to strengthen mental health systems.

The meeting in Mombasa brought together African researchers, innovators, policymakers, public benefit organizations, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions to showcase African-led, data-driven, and community-centered innovations addressing anxiety, depression and psychosis across the continent.

Kyobutungi said mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and psychosis are an increasing public health concern not only in Kenya but also across Africa.

This is especially among young people, who are the most productive of the population.

She noted most countries face significant challenges, including limited data, workforce capacity, diagnosis, inadequate funding, stigma, and gaps in reliable data for decision-making.

Those with lived experience, Kyobutungi said, are the ones better placed to explain a solution that would help than scientists who have never experienced mental disorders.

“That is the whole point of this initiative. To bring people and create solutions based on their own experiences. It is an element of human-entered design which is more likely to come up with a more powerful solution to a problem,” she said.

“For two years, the solutions have been created and are being assessed. Those which are promising, will be scaled up in the next stage,” she said.

Bashir Issak, who heads of the Directorate of Family Health in the Health Ministry, said mental health is one of the programs that have been identified as priority in the directorate.

He said since Covid-19, mental health has taken more prominence in the ministry, with more funding and more attention given to it than the pr-Covid-19 period.

“Now, mental health has come to the center stage of the health system,” Issak said.

Today, there is the Mental Health Board of Kenya to institutionalize the treatment and care of mental health patients.

There are Level 6 hospitals managing mental health issues, he said.

“Now, all our counties have mental health facilities within the county referral hospitals. We have psychiatrists in almost 38 counties and the rest will very soon be posted so that all the 47 counties can manage these cases within their counties rather than transferring patients to Mathari hospital, which overburdens the resources there,” Issak said.

He said due to limited specialists, the government is about to launch the Telemental Health System, where health workers in the peripheries will be able to link with specialists within Mathari Special Hospital, and other experts within the private sector to coordinate the management of their clients within their own ecosystems.

Wellcome Trust’s mental health research team lead Winnie Wefelmeyer said they fund mental health research across the globe.

She noted that mental health is one of the leading burdens of disease.

The researcher said while there are many effective treatments of mental health, many people do not find the solutions that they need for themselves.

“So, it’s important that we fund research to develop new and improved interventions. We are focusing on anxiety, depression and psychosis particularly because those are the conditions that are most prevalent and have the biggest burden,” Wefelmeyer said.

She said at the heart of every research is good quality data but that data can only be utilized impactfully if it is well analyzed and used to bring solutions.

INSTANT ANALYSIS:

Mental health in Kenya is recognized as a profound public health crisis, with an estimated one in four Kenyans experiencing mental illness. Common disorders include depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, often aggravated by poverty, trauma, and societal stigma..