October 12, 2021
By Aruna Kamara in (BO)
The Bo District Health Medical Officer, Dr. Ronald Marsh has disclosed that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone aggravated the mental health problems in the country.
He made this statement during the Commemoration of the World Mental Health Day, organized by the Mental Health Coalition of Sierra Leone, Bo Chapter on the theme: Mental Health in an Unequal World at the Methodist Youth Resource Centre in Bo on 10th October, 2021.
Dr. Marsh said that following the outbreak of Corona Virus a lot of people could not work as result of reduction in terms of staff and cannot cater for their family and became frustrated ,culminating into stress, leading to mental health problems.
According to him, even industrialized nations are also battling over addressing mental health issues and there is a need to have a clear path way to addressing mental health problems in Sierra Leone.
The Bo DMO said that World Mental Health day was designed by UN to help raise awareness on mental health to ensuring that there is improvement in accessing quality care for the patients.
The Bo District Coordinator of the Mental Health Coalition Sierra Leone Bo Chapter, Mohamed Mark Luseni said that this is the first activity of Bo Chapter to join the other world to commemorate the day after the de-amalgamation of the Bo/Kenema Chapter even though it was observed through radio discussion programs.
He said that mental health issues are not treated with the seriousness it deserves and as a Coalition it compromises of different organizations including NGOs and Civil Society organizations in Bo.
He noted that they will be committed to mounting a robust advocacy around addressing mental health issues in Sierra Leone.
Mr. Luseni called on all stakeholders including the government to support them to help address mental health challenges in the country, adding that there is a need to review the laws relating to mental health.
He said that the act is obsolete and it is discriminatory in nature, pointing out that it also brings stigma to those suffering from mental problems.
The Southern Regional Operations Officer of the Sierra Leone Police Abu Samura cautioned the youths from taking harmful drugs as this can contribute to somebody having mental health problems.
He however said that police has been a safe place for people with mental challenges and they will ensure that they are well protected.
A Sierra Leonean, who is a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Specialist from the University of Ibadan, Edwin Johnny while rolling out a roadmap to Bo District Mental Health Programs, said that Mental health Problem is a psychological, emotional and social crisis that result from war, poverty, pandemic, injustice, and death of a love one
He said that this experience can lead to negative thinking; a feeling that you cannot cope with and a behavior that affects you and others.
According to Mr. Johnny, a mental health nurse Bo District has treated over 500 hundred patients with mental health cases , including patience with psychosis, Neurosis, Epilepsy and some of the cases untreated are referred to Freetown,
He highlighted the constraints in addressing mental health problems including inadequate financing, lack of mental health treatment center, limited treatment facilities, stigma attaches to mental illness, lack of coordination among partners and weak monitoring and evaluation.
Mr. Johnny outlined the strategies to be employed to overcome the challenges of addressing mental health problems, community base service should be accessible and cost effective, set up district Mental health Unit, diagnosis, prevention and management of common mental illness by trained health professional, and mapped out NGOs, CBO`s that are providing services in the district.
The Regional Coordinator of Advocacy for Mental Health and Human Rights (MHRH) Christian Kamara urged the government to put more resources into reducing mental health problems in the country,.
The Dean of School of Community and Health Sciences at Njala University, Professor Rashid Ansumana said that mental health problems are treatable and encouraged the coalition to engage the relevant authorities or stakeholders for support in order to succeed in addressing mental health problems in the country.