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Mental health policy and programmes in Kenya

Part of: BJPsych International Country Profiles Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Frank G. Njenga  and
Pius A. Kigamwa
Frank G. Njenga
Affiliation:
Chiromo Lane Medical Centre, University of Nairobi, Kenya, email [email protected]
Pius A. Kigamwa
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi
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Following a 10-year war of liberation (fought by the Mau Mau against the British), Kenya attained full independence from colonial rule in 1963. For 10 years the country enjoyed rapid economic growth (6–7% per annum) but this slowed steadily to near stagnation in the 1990s. Poor governance, abuse of human rights, internal displacements of citizens, large numbers of refugees from neighbouring countries and the AIDS pandemic conspired to reduce Kenyans’ life expectancy to 47 years (in the UK it is presently 77 years). Some 42% of the population now live below the poverty line, and 26% of Kenyans exist on less than US$1 per day. The annual per capita income in Kenya is US$360 (in the UK it is $24 000) (World Bank, 2002). AIDS currently has an estimated prevalence rate of 12%. In large parts of rural Kenya many sexually active adults are unable to work, and elderly grandparents are left to look after orphaned children (some already infected with HIV), as they struggle to deal with their own grief for the loss of many of their own children. In December 2002 a new government was elected, which gives some grounds for optimism in an otherwise bleak situation.

Type
Country profile
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 2 , Issue 8 , April 2005 , pp. 12 - 14
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2005

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