Mental illness in Uganda: millions abandoned without diagnosis, drugs or support

Around 14 million people are thought to be living with mental illness in Uganda, yet just one percent of the country’s total health expenditure goes towards mental health.

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There’s a severe shortage of drugs, trained specialists and facilities while patients also face an uphill battle to challenge the stigma around mental health conditions.

From Uganda – our Africa correspondent Jamal Osman reports, and we should warn you there are some upsetting scenes in his report.

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39 Comments

  1. This is a terrible situation for the Mentally ill and for the Famalies who have no support.The Government needs to realize Mental Health is just as important and invest more money .Locking them up does no good and doesn t change there situation, normally making it worse .Very sad.

  2. Bring back Idi Amin !

    He would soon sort this problem out !

    . . . staked to the ground, stomach slit, heated metal bowl placed above the hungry rat resting on your stomach :
    the only way it can escape is through your stomach !

    ( mental illness ? What mental illness ? ! )

  3. The UK offers no help for people with mental health problems. I know this from experience it is left to the families. If you are british socially, economically and environmentally deprived the UK is worse than a 3rd world country when it comes to mental health.

  4. The issue is Uganda has hard 30 years of bad governance. Politicians stealing money to flow right and center. This has deprived many medical drugs and heath facilities and care.

  5. In urban areas, mental health literacy is available the problem comes in with the rural areas where by most of the people still belief in traditionalists and are not likely to change their mentally in the nearby future….

  6. It’s easy to look at a sad ☹️report like this and think “…how much better of else are”😎. I am a GP. Mental health programmes here in the UK are disgustingly and exceedingly insufficiently funded at least when compared to physical healthcare facilities. The poor little lad in the report is likely on the autism spectrum, non-verbal. I have patients waiting with little or no recourse to any alternative resources, 2-3 years just for an initial mental health nurse lead autism assessment and a diagnosis. It’s truly astonishingly appalling 😱😱😱

  7. It's always another Country's problems they call us evil colonials and then want us to care about what's happening in an independent Country's health system & corruption is never to blame? Take a hike

  8. Why can we not work this out??? The poor HUMAN RACE CANNOT WORK OUT HOW TO ADDRESS THIS WORLWIDE PROBLEM. AT LEAST PROVIDE A SAFE PLACE AND COMMUNITY EFFORTS TO SOLVE THIS LONG TERM PROBLEM.

  9. THOSE POOR KIDS, IT BREAKS MY HEART THERE’S NO HELP.
    IT WAS SAD TO SEE THE YOUNG MAN IN A HUT, CAGED LIKE THAT,
    I UNDERSTAND WHY BUT IT’S STILL SO SAD.

  10. It's so weird how these people are mentally living in the dark ages. It's like progression has come so slow for them when it comes to believing in witch doctors, demons, etc.

  11. 👨🏿‍🎤His rizz is unprecedented🏆. His immaculate drip…so voluminous 💧; that it alone accounts for the village's crop surviving the gyat drought this summer 👨🏿‍🌾. He "APimpname'Slickback" slides 🕺🏿into the town square with his balenciaga garbage bag 💰 sack filled with traditional herbs 🪴 to ward away the no game spirits of his ancestor's haters…👻
    "Yeah I took your girls and put the shorties 👯‍♀️ in my herb sack. They mine by law as they were the property of my dead father, you fools. " What U-gan-da 🇬🇳🌍🇿🇦do about it⛹🏿‍♂️? "

  12. I pray they get the help they need this is just not here it’s Everywhere and then people don’t want to accept 😭what about Counseling what about that u can’t just lock people up that’s not supporting his needs 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

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