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Time for reflection on mental illnesses
2008-08-20 10:31:54
By Editor
Many questions have been asked, most laced with anger, surprise and shock, since the rare August 11 incident that saw a patient admitted to the psychiatry wing of Muhimbili National Hospital go berserk and set upon several other patients.
At the end of it all, two of the victims lay dead and five others were admitted with serious injuries.
There have been few satisfactory answers to the questions, particularly relating to the fact that the assault was launched at the country’s biggest referral hospital.
The incident has since led to the assailant, David Denge (21), appearing in a Dar es Salaam court charged with murder and it may therefore not be that safe to comment on it.
Police have been quick to explain why the young man was taken to court even when it was highly suspected that he may have done what he did while out of his senses.
They say it is for the court to rule on whether that was indeed the case or the circumstances in which the assault was made were different.
There are few signs, though, that the message has impressed many enough people. In any case, that ruling is yet to come.
However, the government has formed a committee to establish the conditions under which the Muhimbili tragedy occurred.
It is instructive that leading the team is none other than the Health and Social Welfare ministry’s Director of Mental Health, Dr Joseph Mbatia.
By coincidence, even before the tragic incident, the good doctor was in communication with The Guardian in connection with the situation of mental health services delivery in Tanzania and had telling revelations which we would like to shed some light on.
According to the director, Tanzania has a much greater shortage of mental health experts than of skilled health workers generally.
He says the country is making do with only about one-third of the number of health workers it needs, adding that there are only 15 psychiatrists for the entire population of over 37 million and one psychiatric nurse per 80,000 people.
Despite the worrisome statistics, Dr Mbatia is fully convinced that things would work a lot better if mental health were fully integrated into the work carried out both at the primary care levels and as a specialist service.
He also subscribes to the argument that all specialists would benefit from developing inter-sectoral liaison with institutions like prison health services, educational institutions, NGOs, the media and the criminal justice system ``because mental health is not an issue for the health sector alone``.
We know the futility of crying over spilt milk. But while we cannot undo the sad events of that dreadful early Monday night, we still think we have given mental health a raw deal for far too long and comprehensive improvements are urgently needed.
Continuing to stigmatise mental illness and isolating or abandoning mental patients will only worsen matters. Dr Mbatia`s remarks point to the right direction. They should be followed by positive action.
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