MENTAL HEALTH REPORT: SA ‘riddled with mental health issues — and we live in denial’ By Ayanda Mthethwa
When Health Ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba released the findings of the Life Esidimeni Arbitration hearings he recommended a South African Human Rights Commission investigation into the general state of mental healthcare in South Africa based on people’s experience of the system.
The report finds that “the largest proportion of mental health budgets and the largest allocation of mental health professionals continues to be psychiatric facilities, despite the introduction of the National Mental Health Policy Framework and Strategic Plan”. A finding emphasised by Makwetla was the stigma and discrimination of people with mental health challenges faced.The consistent under-prioritisation of mental healthcare should be viewed in the broader context of a society where stigma and discrimination against people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities results in marginalisation and exclusion from communities — in other words put them away and forget,” she said.
The commission has instructed the National Department of Health to organise a meeting with all key stakeholders involved in mental health to establish an inter-departmental standing committee on mental health.
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