Ministry of Health says the demand for psychosocial support for people with mental health challenges is increasing, which calls for professional skills to respond to the demand.
The ministry’s Department of Mental Health assistant director of curative and medical rehabilitation services Michael Udedi said this yesterday in Lilongwe during a workshop on mental health recovery to expose stakeholders to evidence-based practices.
He said stakeholders in mental health such as community leaders, teachers, healthcare workers and the police require skills to respond well to the demands in psychosocial services.
“The demand for psychosocial support is increasing and it needs urgent and professional attention. For instance, from January to December 2024, we registered 597 suicide cases linked to mental health and from January to March this year we have recorded 153 cases and these are huge figures,” said Udedi.
He said mental health and trauma cases are caused by a number of factors such as natural disasters, poverty, drugs and substance abuse as well as social media impacts where people post uncensored materials.
“As we speak, 12.85 percent of the Malawi population is affected by mental health and trauma. So we need to respond through both formal and informal channels for the victim to receive the most immediate attention,” said Udedi.
On his part, Alliance for Children Everywhere country director Chisangalalo Ntonyo said many children are falling victim to trauma and they need psychosocial support to overcome their experiences.
“To achieve this, he said there is need to train duty-bearers at various levels such as school, community, police and health to offer first psychosocial services to victims,” he said.
The World Health Organisation regards suicide as a public health problem that requires a public health response.
