Abstract
Abstract
Background
The publication of the World Health Report of 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO) raised awareness of mental health worldwide. It reported a higher burden of mental illnesses in developing countries, with fewer resources to address the conditions. Since then, many initiatives have been taken in Cameroon to improve the mental health of the population, but these efforts lack local scientific evidence to support them. This study aims to describe the mental health services available in the West Region of Cameroon and to provide evidence-based support to this process.
Method
We used the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health systems (WHO-AIMS) version 2.2 to collect, analyze, and report the data on mental health services offered in 2020 in the West Region of Cameroon. We extracted our data from the registers of 10 mental health facilities of the region, and we interviewed the staff in these facilities and at the Ministry of Public Health.
Results
The region is divided into 20 health districts, of which six offered mental health services. As a whole, Cameroon had a mental health policy, mental health plan, but no mental health legislation or emergency plan. There was no specific budget for mental health in the country. In the West Region there were not any psychiatrists. Mental health services were provided by nurses, psychologists, general practitioners, and neurologists. There were 1.87 human resources in mental health facilities per 100,000 population, of which 1.4 were nurses. 1 in 1.4 of these nurses worked in the main city. There was no formal link of mental health services with other sectors and no publication in the previous five years about mental health in the region referenced on PubMed.
Conclusion
In 2020, the access to mental health services in the West Region of Cameroon was inequitable. The approach to mental health system development was not inclusive and not supported by enough scientific evidence.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Health Policy,Pshychiatric Mental Health
Reference34 articles.
1. WHO. World Health Organization assessment instrument for mental health systems version 2.2 . 2005. https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/AIMS_WHO_2_2.pdf. Accessed 27 Feb 2020.
2. WHO. The mental health report 2001. The world health report. 2001. https://www.who.int/whr/2001/en/whr01_en.pdf. Accessed 19 Aug 2021.
3. WHO. Mental health atlas 2017. 2018. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241514019. Accessed 27 Feb 2020.
4. de MariJ J. Mental healthcare in Brazil: modest advances and major challenges. Adv Psychiatr Treat. 2014;20(2):113–5.
5. WHO. Mental health system in Brazil. 2007. http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/WHO-AIMS/en/index.html. Accessed 19 Aug 2021.
Cited by
5 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献