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The Ndola Psychiatry Hospital under construction |
By Paul Shalala in Ndola
Zambia has started
decentralising psychiatry services in a bid to offer mental health services to a
segment of the society which suffers stigma and discrimination.
At present, the country only has one psychiatry hospital in Lusaka: Chainama Hills Hospital.
With the increase in population
and the increase in the number of people with mental problems, the need for
these health services keeps growing.
This is why the Zambian
government has decided to build mental hospitals in all the 10 provinces of the
country.
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Dr. Chitalu Chilufya (middle) touring the hospital recently |
The first of such hospitals is
being built in Ndola on the Copperbelt.
The structure, which is being
built at the cost of K14 million is almost complete, only roofing, painting and
plumbing are remaining.
The Ndola Psychiatry Hospital will
have a bed capacity of 154.
The health facility is expected
to open its doors to the public in July this year.
“This Psychiatry hospital will
offer arrange of health services from mental health to offering refuge for drug
addicts, alcoholics and rehabilitation for youths. Government wants to bring
mental health services closer to people,” said Zambia’s Health Minister Dr.
Chitalu Chilufya when he recently toured the construction site.
And Copperbelt Province Senior
Works Supervisor Steven Makunku, who is supervising the whole project, says the
facility will have several rooms for various purposes.
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Dominic Chatewa |
“This hospital will have consultation
rooms, a laundry room and facilities for rehabilitation. The good part I that the
contractor Jearmy Enterprises is on schedule and will hand over the facility in
July,” said Mr Makunku.
The Ministry of Health has
already deployed over 20 health workers to man the facility once its completed.
The team is led by Dr. Venevivi
Banda, a Psychiatry specialist.
In Zambia, having a mental
condition is so embarrassing that some family members are abandoned for fear of
being ashamed.
This has led to many mental
patients rooming the streets due to stigma.
For those who take care of
them, mental patients are tied to trees or locked up in the houses to ensure
they do not roam around.
But to those who are taken to
the Chainama Hills Hospital for psychiatry treatment, the tag of ‘madness’
usually hangs on them.
This is why this move to
decentralise mental health services across the country is being welcomed by
mental health activists.
“As President of the Mental
Health Advocacy and Support Initiative (MHASI), I am very delighted to learn of
the development of mental healthcare facilities in Ndola. This current
government has done exceptionally well in the area of promoting mental
healthcare,” said Dominic Chatewa, a Lusaka-based mental health advocate.
Mr Chatewa, who himself was once treated at Chainama Hills Hospital, however says
building psychiatry hospitals is not enough without a legal framework.
“As MHASI, we are still calling
on the legislature to expedite the enactment of the 2021 Mental Health Bill
which would replace the current archaic 1951 bill. The bill will set in motion
a number of policy issues that will be of benefit to society,” he added.
The issue of mental health in
Zambia is so sensitive that MHASI is among a handful of non-governmental
organisations who openly advocate for the well being of mental patients.
People would not want to be
associated with mental patients for fear of being labelled as a mental patients themselves.
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