THE corporate sector and other stakeholders have been called on to avail funds to support mental health institutions in the country.
Cases of mental disorders are going undiagnosed as institutions offering services battle to stay afloat.
Speaking after a charity run from Harare to Victoria Falls to help raise funds to support mental institutions, athlete Nell English said there was need to raise awareness on mental health issues.
Nell’s one-person-run started on April 12 and ended on April 30 2016.
Tirivanhu Centre in Ruwa and Tariro in Beatrice are some of the mental health institutions set to benefit from the funds raised from the charity run.
Nell said the run was driven by a passion to help those with mental health challenges.
“I am just an athlete with no particular background on mental health issues, but I took the run from Harare to Victoria Falls after realising that most people were not aware of mental health issues,” he said.
“During the charity run, I managed to raise US$ 6 500 from private individuals and more are still coming, but my hope is that corporates will support this worthy cause as well.”
The 27-year-old Zimbabwean who resides in Spain dubbed the run ‘ANBESSA’.
The Amharic word ANBESSA represents a lion, a symbol for bravery.
“As an individual I completed the 724km journey and managed to raise awareness on issues that most people hardly talk about,” she said.
The Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health (ZIMNAMH) national coordinator Ignatius Murambidzi said as an organisation, they sought to improve mental health treatment and care services in both state and private mental health facilities.
“ZIMNAMH would like to improve mental health treatment and care services,” he said.
“In this regard, ZIMNAMH partnered with English to conduct a charity run aimed at raising awareness and funds for mental health in the country.”
Throughout the charity run, he said, awareness programmes were held in every town where social misconceptions about mental health issues were clarified.
“Most social beliefs link mental health problems to witchcraft or avenging spirits (ngozi) which make people seek traditional healing methods, ignoring the scientific and medical ways which may be effective in solving these issues such that by the time that they seek help at mental institutions, the condition would have deteriorated,” said Murambidzi.
Murambidzi said societal attitudes and misconceptions had even cascaded to corporates, hence the lack of support.
Institutions such as Rukariro Mental Institution in Mutare closed its doors in 2009 and no efforts have been made to raise an estimated US$50 000 required to re-open it.
Murambidzi said institutions such as Tirivanhu and Tariro needed less than US$7 000 to operate.
“Tariro and Tirivanhu mental health institutions need US$2 000 and US$3 500 respectively, which we hope will cover the minor renovations needed,” he said.
The mental health sector has been largely neglected despite the enactment of the Mental Health Act in 1996, the Mental Health Policy in 2004 and a strategic plan for mental health services designed to effectively implement all the regulations which provide a framework, within which mental health programmes, projects and activities are designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated.
Indications are that many people suffering from mental health illnesses are not accessing health facilities or shy away due to the stigma associated with the health conditions.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Zimbabwe National Mental Health policy’s major aim is to harmonise mental health activities and improve quality of care of those living with mental disorders.
It is reported that there could be 1,3 million Zimbabweans who have mental health disorders with schizophrenia, substance abuse and temporal lobe epilepsy being common among the mental health conditions.