Mental Health record: From April 2021 to December, Lira Referral gave treatment to over 4500 patients.
By Isabella Awor Olong
Lira – January 29, 2022: Mental health patients were accommodated for treatment at their unit before Covid-19 hit Uganda and Lira district.
However, currently, Lira Regional Referral Hospital has mixed mental health patients with those facing different ailments. They now share female and male wards, TND News has learnt.
Charles Moses Irera is the Principal Psychiatric Clinical Officer and the In-charge of mental health facility at Lira Regional Referral Hospital. Speaking to TND News recently, he outlined a number of issues they are facing at the mental health facility after COVID-19 outbreak.
He said the facility is currently admitting patients at the main hospital and at the Outpatients Department (OPD) they are giving antenatal services.
“We have only two clinical rooms and it is quite small for confidentiality and standard operating procedures (SOPs),” Irera added.
Twofold transport costs he said is hindering clients coming from long distances to access service. “Sometimes the hospital runs short of drugs forcing patients to buy on their own.”
The facility and the entire hospital are also grappling with lack of transport and fuel for outreaches to attend to other mental patients in villages.
On drugs, he said some for injections cost shs20.000.00, others in tablets form costs shs1000-1500 and must be taken every day.
“This is quite expensive and a big challenge to us,” Irera told TND News Isabella Awor.
He said the following tablets for mental health patients have run out of stock at the hospital. They are: carbamazepine and phenobarbitone.
The reason why there is a shortage of medicines at the facility is because the resources allocated may not be enough, he added.
Jusphin Abonyo is a resident of Bar sub-county, Obot `B’ village. TND News met her and said she came for medication at the Referral Hospital. “I visited the hospital twice and was told there is no medicine.”
During the interview, she was sad that her sister who supports her with the drug is demoralized. Asked why? “It is very expensive for her.”
Lira district health officer (DHO) Dr Buchan Patrick Ocen said, “It is true mental health is a big problem in Northern Uganda, aware that they suffered during the insurgencies making the community to face a number of challenges.”
“One of the big social-economic problems faced is mental health, a number of people were highly traumatized, children suffered mental health because of high fever, poorly treated malaria and a number ended up with epilepsy, this is a big problem in Lira district and entire Lango sub region,” Dr. Ocen revealed.
In Amac Health Center IV, so many patients come for epilepsy treatment and other mental problems. In Erute North’s Aromo Health Center III, it has the highest cases of mental health including nodding syndrome disease.
Dr Ocen is happy that the government and Ministry of Health took proactive measures by putting up one mental health unit at Lira Regional Referral Hospital.
This facility not only serving Lango sub region; it has specialized mental health care services alongside a psychiatrist offering specialized support and capacity building of other health workers on mental health .
In March 2020 when COVID-19 hit the country and with increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients with severity of illness, the mental health unit had to be relocated after it was turned into a treatment center.
As a result, it was a dilemma for other patients especially those with mental illness many of whom had to return to their villages.
“Lira Regional Referral Hospital doesn’t have financial capacity to conduct outreach services like other health centers, these patients should have been reached out with specialized services. This is our constraints,” added DHO Dr Ocen.
According to a senior psychiatric clinical officer at mental health unit, Francis Ecel, they handle patients from the nine districts and also those from the neighboring districts of Agago, Nwoya, Kaberamaido and Kiryandongo.
Ecel said in April 2021, they saw 485 patients, 533 in May, 456 in June; 457 in July 459 in August; 641 in September, 470 in October, 682 in November and December had 377.
“When the statistics go down it shows there is no drug in the unit and lockdown had to limit patients from accessing the services because of the cost of transport and restrictions.”
Lira district he said is leading in mental health followed by Kole district, adding that some health centers don’t have mental health workers. “That’s why their patients come to Lira…”
Hilder Akullu Wacha who represents Women and Girls with Mental Health Uganda and have been giving support through outreaches to villages since 2018, decried the lack of space at the facility.
She is requesting for another alternative for their patients to have easy life.
Wacha also decried lack of drugs at the facility. “With the little support i get from well-wishers to go for outreaches, it’s not enough for the entire patient.”
“There is high turn-up when we go for an outreach but with the challenge of enough medicine, I appeal for more support by the government, non-governmental organization and well-wishers to help the patients recover.”
The outreaches to patients in villages are supported by Mental Health Uganda Lira Association (MULA), Mental Health Uganda Kole (MHUKA), Rites International, TPO and Kole Noth Member of Parliament, Dr Samuel Opio Acuti.
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