National Mental Health Program Manager Identifies Mental Health Conditions as Primary Cause of Disability

By Ramatoulie Jawo 

The National Mental Health Programme (NMHP) at the Ministry of Health held a training session for journalists on mental health issues on Thursday, 22nd February 2024. The Program Manager of NMHP, Mam Jarra Marega, said that mental health conditions are the most common cause of disability in the world.

Marega emphasized the pervasive nature of mental health challenges, asserting that chronic issues like depression and anxiety contribute significantly to disability rates globally.

“The statistics of mental health are very high and mental health conditions are the leading cause of disability globally. And this disability is caused by chronicle mental health problems such as depression and anxiety,” she said. 

Addressing the pervasive stigma and discrimination faced by individuals grappling with mental health conditions, Marega highlighted data from the World Health Organization (WHO), indicating that one in four individuals will contend with mental health issues during their lifetime. Notably, major depression appears more prevalent among women, further underscoring the vulnerability of certain demographics.

“WHO has stated that 1 in 4 will experience mental health conditions in their lifetime.They are also indicating that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will experience major depression, so meaning that it is more common in women, and you know women are part of the more vulnerable groups,” Madam Marega highlighted. 

She added that one in seven children between the ages of 10 to 19 will have a mental health condition, which is a critical age group that needs special attention.

“Looking at that age category is very critical, and we cannot do it alone. Our program under the Ministry of Health coordinates all the mental health activities in the country. However, we cannot do it alone because we are resource constraints the human capacity is very low,” she said. 

Marega stressed the critical role of collaboration in addressing mental health challenges, acknowledging the limitations posed by resource constraints and insufficient human capital within the NMHP.

Echoing Marega’s sentiments, Momodou Gassama, a Health Promotions Specialist at the World Health Organization, emphasized the global inadequacy in addressing mental health needs. Gassama lamented the disproportionality in resource allocation, with mental health receiving a mere 2% of global health budgets despite affecting approximately one in eight individuals worldwide.

“The world is not doing sufficiently enough for mental health, because as we speak now 1 in every 8 people in the world has a mental health which means 1 billion of the world population has a mental disorder this very serious,” he said. 

Highlighting the glaring gap in mental health resources, Gassama noted the severe shortage of mental health professionals, with only 13 available per hundred thousand population, indicating a significant deficiency in human capital within this crucial sector.

“What is the world doing for mental health if you took about it all the health ministries together in the world compelled all their health budget together only 2% of health budgets goes to mental health globally,” 

“In some countries, it is far less than that, some 0.5% of their budget goes into mental health. Can you imagine, but if you look at the whole world holistically, only 2% of health budgets goes to mental health so what are we doing, That means 98% is going to other health conditions. And yet, as I said, 1 in every 8 people has a mental health disorder, So are we doing enough?” he queried. 

He stated that this is the reason behind the World Health Organization (WHO) report’s assertion that the global efforts to tackle mental health needs are insufficient. Despite the high demand for mental health support, the level of response remains notably inadequate.

“Let’s look at the Human Resources capacity for mental health as we live now, if you add all the mental health professionals, what the world is saying is that for every hundred thousand population you only have 13 mental health professionals to take care of them. So this tells you where we are. So it means that the Human resources capacity for mental health is grossly inadequate,” he said.