Connect with us

General News

Kenya: Families in Crisis As Mathari Halts Key Services

Published

5 years ago

on

[ad_1]

The fate of about 500,000 mentally ill patients hangs in the balance as the country’s highest level specialised care facility, Mathari, halted its inpatient services and weekly clinic sessions owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The move to curb crowding at the facility has dealt a major blow to families and caregivers of the mentally ill, some who were discharged from the facility before they could recover.

Incidentally, the Association of Mental Health Advocates has for years been imploring the government to spruce up the mental care system across counties to avoid unnecessary travel to Mathari hospital.

Families outside Nairobi with mental health patients are now caught between a rock and a hard place, as they cannot enter the capital city for specialised care nor get adequate medical attention in their respective counties.

A resident of Kayole, who had his sister-in-law unduly discharged last week from Mathari, told the Saturday Nation that the family is helpless.

“You can imagine staying with someone who is violent and hard to restrain under one roof with young children. Everyone is always tense and looking out lest she harms herself or the children. What is worse is that she cannot sleep,” the man said.

BASIC TREATMENT

The family returned the patient to the facility on Tuesday, a day after being discharged, but the nurses insisted that there was a strict directive not to admit patients.

“She was given some injection and medicine which have not helped. She is still hyperactive. If she escapes during curfew, will the police understand she is unwell?” the man posed.

Three weeks ago, another violent patient who had been brought all the way from Mandera was also turned away from the top mental hospital after being offered some drugs.

Ordinarily, such patients would have received a lulling injection and admission.

What this means is that hundreds of Kenyans who seek mental healthcare will only receive basic treatment of an undiagnosed condition.

The National Emergency Response Committee on Covid-19 said that the fear of the virus could cause intense distress that may make those with pre-existing mental conditions to relapse “and may not find adequate care, including medication”.

This statement has come to life as Kenyans with mental conditions, such as epilepsy, dementia, autism, cerebral palsy, schizophrenia, bipolar face harder times.

EMERGENCY CASES

The emergency committee, in a document titled, “Public mental health education during Covid-19 pandemic”, also warned that physical isolation of families, breakdown of the community support and drastic decline in income generation are further likely to cause psychological and social challenges, adding to the burden of mental illness in the country.

Mr Dannish Odongo, a member of the mental health association, appreciates that the country has to fight Covid-19 by all means and that Mathari has left a window open to attend to emergency cases.

“But how can serious cases requiring admission be sent away? And with the cancellation of the Tuesday clinic sessions, where will the about 200 patients who normally benefit go?” he posed.

The association is concerned that the measures taken will interrupt access to affordable healthcare and emergency services for those suffering from chronic diseases.

They now want the government to provide alternative access points, including dispatching nurses and community health workers to attend to patients.

“They should also provide psychological first aid and deliver drugs to patients at risk of immunosuppression, including the elderly, children with comorbidities,” the lobby recommended.

In the advent of coronavirus, patients are unable to access or afford medication. There have been stock-outs of vital drugs because of bulk-purchasing and interrupted importation following travel restrictions around the world.

UNLIMITED ACCESS

A patient in Kisumu, for instance, could not find Concerta, a drug for managing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in all the chemists in the lakeside city.