‘Improving SA’s mental health care is crucial’

THE psychiatric profession should play a greater role in advocating for patients’ rights and improving the management of mental health in the public sector, after a series of recent tragedies highlighted the neglect of mental health care in South Africa.

Newly-elected president of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (Sasop), Professor Bonga Chiliza, said the deaths of 144 patients in the now notorious Life Esidimeni tragedy; allegations of abuse and human rights violations at the Tower Psychiatric Hospital in the Eastern Cape; and the suicide of UCT health sciences dean Professor Bongani Mayosi, following his battle with depression, all pointed to the need for the organisation to “rise and answer the call for advocating on behalf of mental health care users and our profession”.

Chiliza, who heads the department of psychiatry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Medical School, will serve as Sasop president until 2020. He said the organisation would ramp up its lobbying for mental health care to be allocated an equitable share of the national health budget.

He said Sasop would also be doing more to encourage medical students to specialise in psychiatry, in order to grow the numbers of qualified professionals able to serve public mental health care needs.

“Mental health conditions are often misunderstood, mismanaged and stigmatised, particularly for those who rely on the public health system for treatment. They are extremely vulnerable to abuse, and Sasop as the professional body for psychiatrists must take the lead in ensuring better services.”