Mental illnesses on the rise – Psychiatrists

Psychiatrists at Butabika national mental referral hospital say mental health-related cases have increased over the last two years.

The executive director of Butabika National mental referral hospital, Dr. Juliet Nakku cited the COVID-19 pandemic as among the problems which are triggering the increase in metal-related illness cases.

She says although the hospital has a limited bed capacity, over 1000 patients are admitted to the health facility despite the fact that the hospital has a bed capacity of only 550 beds.

Nakku says mental health has become an advert since the outbreak of COVID-19, calling for more interventions to manage the cases.

She says, in every 10 people, 4 of them are suffering from depression, and this is a source of suffering from mental health-related diseases.
According to Nakku, government allocated a budget of Shs20 billion up from Shs18 billion to run the activities at the health facility.

Written by Moses Ndhaye