The Minister of Health last week announced plans to open in Kigali a one-stop health facility that will offer comprehensive mental health treatment services in the country. This will complement other efforts in place to address mental health issues by specifically helping in early diagnosis of mental health challenges among the population. The country has made very impressive strides in addressing general health challenges, but the issue of mental health remains of great concern and is mainly aggravated by the country’s historical context. According to a survey conducted in 2009 and sanctioned by the Ministry of Health, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), trauma and depression account for the biggest number of mental illnesses in the country. For instance, according to statistics derived from the survey, PTSD was found prevalent in over 28 per cent of the adult population. Like trauma, PTSD is mainly attributable to the horrors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi for both those who witnessed it and those who did not. Besides PTSD and depression, however, are other mental health conditions that are prevalent in Rwanda and equally in need of urgent attention; these include anxiety, epilepsy, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The biggest challenge however has been late diagnosis and treatment of the different mental health ailments, which has at times left irreversible damages to the victims. For instance, at the National Neuropsychiatric Hospital based in Ndera Sector, Gasabo District, most people are always taken by relatives after conditions have deteriorated. The facility is also overwhelmed, being the only one in the country, which also makes matters worse. The new centre, therefore, is a welcome development because it will be able to offer early diagnosis and treatment, and will possibly help demystify the stigma associated with mental health. Tackling mental health in the country, however, will require a holistic multi-pronged approach in prevention and treatment. For instance, whereas we need as many facilities and professionals with the requisite skills, we need a community that will not stigmatise anyone diagnosed with mental illness. We also need to deal with enablers of mental illness, which in most cases are societal challenges like teenage pregnancies which lead to depression of the victims and drug abuse.
