Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:19:12.409Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Scaling up mental healthcare in the Republic of Niger: priorities for and barriers to service improvement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Alison Hwong ,
Djibo Maiga Douma ,
Soumana Zamo  and
Julian Eaton
Alison Hwong
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, email Alison_Hwong@hms.harvard.edu
Djibo Maiga Douma
Affiliation:
National Programme in Mental Health, Ministry of Public Health, Niger Faculty of Health Sciences, Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger
Soumana Zamo
Affiliation:
CBM Niger Country Coordination Office, Niamey, Niger
Julian Eaton
Affiliation:
CBM West Africa Regional Office, Lomé, Togo
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

As part of a pilot programme to scale up community mental health services, local health centre directors, community health workers and key informants were interviewed in two neighbouring political districts of Niger. Major priorities for improving services included training staff on the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, collaborating with traditional healers, educating the community about the origins of psychiatric illness and building infrastructure for medication delivery. Barriers to care included long distances for travel to the nearest hospital and lack of funding for home-based visits by health workers. This study was the first step in Niger's plan to implement the World Health Organization's Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) at a national level.

Type
Research papers
Information
BJPsych International , Volume 12 , Issue S1: Research Supplement , May 2015 , pp. S-6 - S-9
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015

References

Badagé, S. (2007) Les Besoins en Soins de Santé Mentale de la Population de la Région de Dosso République du Niger (Mémoire Attaché de Santé) [The Need for Mental Healthcare of the Population of the Region of Dosso, Republic of Niger (Memoire from the Health Secretary)]. Ecole Nationale de Santé Publique.Google Scholar
Eaton, J., Maiga, D. D. & Pate, S. (2009) Mental health services in the Republic of Niger. International Psychiatry, 6, 63–64.Google Scholar
Eaton, J., McCay, L., Semrau, M., et al (2011) Scale up of services for mental health in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet, 378, 1592–1603.Google Scholar
Maiga, O. D., Abdou, A. & Modibo, M. (2008) Contribution à l'évaluation des besoins en santé mentale. [Contribution to the assessment of mental health needs.] Médecine d'Afrique Noire, no. 5503, 169–175.Google Scholar
Saraceno, B., van Ommeren, M., Batniji, R., et al (2007) Barriers to improvement of mental health services in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet, 370, 1164–1174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Système Nationale d'Information Sanitaire (2007) Annuaire des Statistiques Sanitaires au Niger. [Annual Report of Health Statistics in Niger.] SNIS.Google Scholar
Thornicroft, G., Brohan, E., Rose, D., et al, for the INDIGO Study Group (2009) Global pattern of experienced and anticipated discrimination against people with schizophrenia: a cross-sectional survey. Lancet, 373, 408–415.Google Scholar
United Nations Development Programme (2009) Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development. See http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/269/hdr_2009_en_complete.pdf (accessed December 2013).Google Scholar
Vian, T., Miller, C., Themba, Z., et al (2013) Perceptions of per diems in the health sector: evidence and implications. Health Policy and Planning, 28, 237–246.Google Scholar
Wang, P. S., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Alonso, J., et al (2007) Use of mental health services for anxiety, mood, and substance disorders in 17 countries in the WHO world mental health surveys. Lancet, 370, 841–850.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2008) mhGAP: Mental Health Gap Action Programme: Scaling Up Care for Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders. WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2011) Atlas. Country Profile of Mental Health Resources. WHO.Google Scholar
World Psychiatric Association (2001) The WPA Global Programme to Reduce the Stigma and Discrimination Because of Schizophrenia – An Interim Report 2001. WPA.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.