Govt, medical schemes urged to focus more on mental health
The South African Society of Psychiatrists is urging government and medical aid schemes to enhance care for those with schizophrenia to lessen the risk of premature death.
Tuesday marks World Mental Health Day, and the medics are reminding us mental health care is a human right.
The society says while schizophrenia only affects about 1% of the population, over 80% of individuals with the disorder don't receive the treatment and care they need.
It says less than 5% of South Africa's healthcare budget is directed towards mental health care - with medical aid schemes only allowing 21 days of hospitalisation per year for schizophrenia patients.
SASOP board member Dr Alicia Porter says stigma remains a significant obstacle to accessing the treatment needed by individuals.
"Stigma becomes glaringly sort of evident that stigma exists just by the way that budget is allocated.
“So, we need to be creating more awareness with conditions like schizophrenia, which are severe mental health conditions, and there need to be looking at both in-patient and out-patient and how do we begin to educated people are the signs and symptoms, treat in order to break the stigma."
