PANIC; Butabika hospital calls for help as mental health illness cases skyrocket
Dr. Juliet Nakku, the Executive director Butabika National Referral Hospital, has called for mental health interventions that would help deal with the increasing mental health illness cases in Uganda that is partly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic among other causes.
She revealed that the hospital has 1000 mental health illness patients admitted despite having a smaller bed capacity of only 550.
“There have to be interventions regarding the ever-increasing cases of mental illness patients. Butabika hasn’t been supported to handle high numbers. The hospital only has a bed capacity of 550 beds which is not enough,” Dr. Juliet Nakku revealed .
It has been established that in every 10 people, 4 of them are suffering from depression, and this is a source of suffering from mental health-related diseases.
Nakku also adds that the Government allocated a budget of sh20b up from sh18b to run the activities at the health facility. She however said more needs to be done for the hospital to be able to do better.
It should be recalled that a report released by the Uganda Counselling Association and the Ministry of Health last year indicated that 14 million Ugandans are suffering from mental health disorders.
What this meant is that for every 100 Ugandans, 35 of them are suffering from mental health-related illnesses.
The number, according to the health ministry, only included cases that had been reported in mental health facilities.
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