By Charles Ariko

UGANDA has only 28 psychiatrists for a population of 33 million people, a senior doctor has said.

Dr. David Basangwa, the acting Butabika Hospital director, said most of the work was being done by clinical officers and nurses since the specialist doctors were few.

He explained that 35% of the population suffers from different psychiatric disorders. Of these, 15% require treatment from mental health units.

Basangwa said much as there was evidence that the problem was growing, there was no current specific data.

Basangwa noted that while Kenya has at least 80 psychiatrists, most medical students in Uganda rarely opt for psychiatry because it is less lucrative.

“Our patients do not pay. So even if one started a private clinic, it attracts few clients,” he said.

Basangwa made the disclosure recently while meeting psychiatrists from Kenya led by Dr. Nelly Kitazi, the superintendent of Mathari Hospital in Nairobi that treats mentally ill patients.

Basangwa revealed that there were about 10 scholarships at the undergraduate and masters levels for psychiatry students but nobody had applied for the course this academic year.