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MEC of health in the Eastern Cape Nomakhosazana Meth says mental health issues are a societal matter and the responsibility to deal with them does not belong to her department alone.
The health boss spoke to hundreds who gathered at the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital auditorium in Mthatha on Tuesday, which coincided with the worldwide observation of World Mental Health Day. Meth addressed the inaugural lecture on mental health under the theme Mental Health is a Universal Human Right and said it had always been a top priority for her from the time she assumed office.
The lecture was supposed to have been addressed by SA Human Rights chairperson Professor Bongani Majola, but he could not as he had other commitments.
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Meth said she appointed the mental health review board to strengthen the department's adherence to maintaining and upholding the rights of mental health users in the department.
Meth mentioned:
"On assumption of office in the department, I adopted mental health as my special programme. It is for this reason that I appointed mental health registered counsellors and used my powers to create these posts additional to the organogram," said Meth.
She further explained that out of 31 posts, 26 counsellors had already been appointed.
She said others declined the offers, but she was confident that she would soon fill the five remaining posts.
She said that since the appointments were made, there had been an improvement in access to psychological services by communities.
The MEC said:
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Substance abuse and stigma a dangerous combination
According to a World Health Organization report, one in every eight people in the world lives with a mental health condition.
Despite the worldwide high prevalence of mental health problems, only a few people have access to quality mental health services as there is still a stigma around mental health.
The department has prioritised the promotion of mental health and treatment of all mental health conditions across the lifespan, and this has been done through the process of strengthening primary mental health care, the appointment of a district team, and an infrastructure plan.
Meth says for the first time in the history of her department, they have appointed a head for mental health who is a professional in the field and is deployed in all eight regions of the Eastern Cape at primary health level.
"Mental health care services cannot be a thing of the department. The whole of society needs to be involved.
"Hence, we have to partner with the communities to promote mental health services. And try to prevent mental health issues," she said.
She added their health facilities were over-flooded by patients who needed these kinds of services.
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The health MEC said drugs and substance abuse aggravated the issues around mental health problems. This was particularly prevalent among young people. She added the 28 district hospitals were targeted to build and improve mental health services and infrastructure.
She said one of the biggest problems in society around the issue of mental health, especially among black communities, was that people were being isolated and excluded and there were also stories of witchcraft.
“Our people need to understand that mental health is part of the disease. You don’t need to isolate people, hate them, or stigmatise them and do all the funny things,” she said.
She mentioned mental health had always been her special programme because no one had owned up to it before and she wanted to ensure that its services were not only accessible but of high quality. She said they had since appointed a director of mental health services.
The health MEC said mental health was the third-highest burden of diseases in South Africa while 16.5 % suffered from mental disorders in 12 months, and about 75% did not have access to mental health services.
Among those who attended the event were partners of the department of health, Avbob, Old Mutual and Metropolitan. Guests included health practitioners, traditional leaders, politicians, businesspeople, the religious fraternity, and people from the legal fraternity.
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Thupana Seshoka, chief psychiatrist and head of the clinical department at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Makhanda (former, Grahamstown), said mental health was very important and had been neglected for quite some time.
He said some of the patients presented to them very late and showed some signs of mental illness that were not picked up early even by their families.
He explained some of the early signs that could be identified were when somebody started to withdraw themselves, no longer interact with other people, and hid themselves in their rooms.
"They don't eat as they normally used to and don’t sleep well. Some start talking to themselves and neglect even their personal hygiene or wear clean clothes.
“So, those are the early signs that should be taken into consideration, and as soon as we can, take these people to the nearest health facilities so that they can be formally assessed and be given the right intervention and treatment,” Seshoka said.
