Kenya: WHO Quality of Care in Mental Health Initiative Adopted

On Tuesday, Kenya's Ministry of Health declared that the country has adopted the World Health Organization's (WHO) quality rights initiative to improve the quality of mental health care.

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Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai of the State Department for Medical Services said that the initiative will bring a paradigm shift to embrace human rights and fundamental freedoms as a precondition of care.

"This is the first step to address social justice and reduce stigma and discrimination toward people with mental health issues," Kimtai said during the commemoration of World Mental Health Day in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Kimtai noted that the initiative will help the country move closer to the realization of the constitutional right to the highest attainable standards of health.

Furthermore, he also stated that the WHO's initiative would improve community screening, early identification and referral, psychosocial rehabilitation, reintegration and social inclusion. 

He believed that the quality rights' toolkit that will be developed will provide knowledge on human rights and drive attitudes to change based on the provision of articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

According to Kimtai, failure to address mental health-related issues portends significant health and socioeconomic implications in terms of social capital, healthcare needs and lost productivity that ultimately curtails the achievement of the country's goals.

However, he stated that there is increasing evidence that the promotion of mental well-being and prevention of mental illness is possible by using both general and targeted evidence-based interventions that can improve outcomes for individuals across the spectrum of mental conditions and life courses.

The Kenyan official called for the adoption of an all-inclusive, multisectoral, multi-stakeholder approach that is critical in addressing the social determinants and strengthening mental health systems including legislation to anchor the fulfillment of human rights.