Harare (New Ziana) –Zimbabwe on Tuesday joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Mental Health Day, with the exclusion from workplaces and communities of people with the challenges dominating conversations.
Stakeholders marched from the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, which houses the Annex hospital where mental health patients are treated, to the Harare Gardens.
The stakeholders included members of the Zimbabwe National Association for Mental Health (ZIMNAMH), Mubatirapamwe, a community-outreach organization, people with mental health challenges as well as Ministry of Health and Child Care officials and personnel.
At the Harare Gardens, the small gathering listened to addresses from medical personnel and members of Mubatirapamwe, with the exclusion of people with mental health challenges and legislation governing mental health in the country being the main issues.
Tatenda Nyakudya of ZIMNAMH said persons with mental health illness are exposed to a range of human rights violations.
These can occur inside institutions, through inadequate and harmful care and treatment, as well as outside, with people experiencing limitation to the exercise of civil liberties and rights to employment, education and housing, she said.
“These violations are often motivated by the stigma, myths and misconceptions associated with mental illnesses which can, in turn, also impact on their ability to gain access to appropriate care and reintegrate into the community according to the international law and human rights,” said Nyakudya.
Dr Fungisai Mazhandu of the Annex Hospital said there is need for a legal framework to critically address issues affecting the lives of people with mental illnesses such as within institutions or in the communities.
She said the Mental Health Act of 1996 was outdated and no longer conforming to international standards and needed to be amended.
“These laws need to be amended to uplift mentally challenged people at workplaces and not to be discriminated when they are in the community,” she said.
Alexio Taruvinga, a bipolar disorder patient said; “The conditions are managed by the medication that is taken every day until the doctors instruct you to stop but if there is no improvement you will be on the medications for life. They can reduce the tablet to one if the patient is improving. Stigmatization should be stopped in the society since the condition can affect anyone.”
Mental health is a state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn and work well, and contribute to their communities.
It is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world.
World Mental Health Day is commemorated on 10 October every year to raise global awareness and advocacy against social stigma.
It was first commemorated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation of Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in 150 countries.
This year, the day was commemorated under the theme “Mental Health is a universal human right”
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