Uganda’s only mental hospital, Butabika Mental Referral Hospital is in a crisis of mental health workers as the number of patients being admitted at the facility has rapidly risen in the past three months.
According to the Executive Director of the facility, Dr. David Basangwa the facility receives between 100 and 120 patients each day in the outpatient department; and in the inpatient department, they have received more than 100 new cases.
He said to be able to offer appropriate care, they will need additional funding when the budget is finalized as government is the sole financier for mental health care since the area hasn’t attracted donor funding. He revealed how government has promised to offer them an improved Shs27 billion in the coming financial year.
Dr. David Basangwa revealed that if fulfilled, they will be able to recruit more mental health workers as for now they have 20 psychiatrists. He said they will also have to procure more furniture since they have 550 beds, with abnormal occupancy of 150 percent.
Uganda is ranked among the top six countries with the highest cases of mental illness in Africa, and has a 33 percent overall global ranking. The causes of mental illness in Uganda are attributed to Poverty, drug abuse, rising burden of diseases such as diabetes and cancer and civil war.