Integrate mental health in HIV care - Experts

Dec 01, 2022

Experts from United for Global Mental Health (UGMH) have warned that without addressing mental health, there will be no end to HIV or TB.Β 

The recent statistics from the health ministry and the Uganda Counselling Association estimated that 14 million Ugandans suffer from a form of mental disorder.

Violet Nabatanzi
Journalist @New Vision

MENTAL HEALTH | AIDS | DAY 

KAMPALA - As Uganda joins the rest of the world to mark World AIDS Day, today, December 1, 2022, experts have called for the integration of mental health into HIV Care.

They say People living with HIV (PLHIV) and Tuberculosis (TB) experience higher rates of depression and other common mental health conditions. 

This has been linked to reduced adherence to treatment, which leads to higher rates of HIV and TB deaths.

Non-Communicable Diseases principal medical officer Dr Frank Mugabe says Uganda's health ministry is in advanced stages of integrating mental health into HIV care.

According to the Epi-data (SPECTRUM) the country estimates of PLHIV and AIDS are 1.4 million.

The recent statistics from the health ministry and the Uganda Counselling Association estimated that 14 million Ugandans suffer from a form of mental disorder.

Mugabe said, together with other partners, the ministry is also integrating other diseases including hypertension, asthma and diabetes into HIV care.   

"Healthcare should be holistic, integration should not stop at only HIV, but it should go beyond,’’ Mugabe said during an interview with New Vision today, December 1, 2022.

Experts from United for Global Mental Health (UGMH) have warned that without addressing mental health, there will be no end to HIV or TB. 

The fight against HIV and TB is at a critical stage as the world enters the final push towards ending the HIV and TB pandemics by 2030.

According to a research titled: Bending the Curve: The Impact of Integrating Mental Health Services on HIV and TB Outcomes, poor mental health is a risk factor for HIV and TB exposure, which complicates the disease course and treatment.

The study, which was conducted by Dr José Manuel Roche and supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, further highlighted that, living with HIV and TB is a significant risk factor for a decline in the individual’s mental health and developing psychiatric illness. 

This is compounded by the psychological distress associated with stigma and discrimination which may also trigger the symptoms of mental health conditions. For example, depression in affected individuals.

The study said the integration of mental health and psychosocial services into HIV and TB programmes, will not only help millions of vulnerable people with ill mental health, but also contribute to ending these epidemics much quicker at no additional cost.

It further recommended that mental health needs to be immediately placed at the center of the world’s HIV and TB response through full integration supported by adequate finance.

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