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Twenty-five years of expectation: where are the services for older people with mental illness in Africa?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Thomas Clausen  and
Adrian O. Wilson
Thomas Clausen
Affiliation:
Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF), University of Oslo, Norway, email [email protected]
Adrian O. Wilson
Affiliation:
African Foundation for Research and Interdisciplinary Training in Ageing, Harare, Zimbabwe
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Abstract

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Mental health disorders account for about 14% of the global burden of disease. Neuropsychiatric disorders may be responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths annually (Prince et al, 2007). Around 80% of those affected live in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, despite the fact that older persons carry a disproportionate burden of non-communicable disease and mental disorder, they are not seen as priority issues for healthcare provision in these countries. Logically and ethically, older persons should be prioritised for targeted interventions, alongside the generic strengthening of primary and community health provision. African governments, spurred on by the specific agendas of non-governmental and parastatal organisations, continue with more urgent tasks; their healthcare provision is oriented towards the ‘younger generations’ (maternal and child healthcare, and infection). In most African countries, the expenditure specifically targeted for mental health is below 1% of the total healthcare budget, that is, effectively non-existent (Saxena et al, 2007).

Type
Thematic Paper — Care for Elderly People with Mental Illness
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 32 - 34
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
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 2010

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