By Leonard Kamugisha Akida and Charlotte Kagumaho,
KABALE
Dr. Nyeko John Philbert, the Director of the Kabale Regional Referral Hospital has disclosed that the facility’s mental health department is grappling with a surge of mental health patients burdened by substance-related issues.
According to Dr. Nyeko, the surge is due to addictions such as excessive consumption of alcohol, drugs and other substances abuse and other disorders such as bipolar.
“Alcohol consumption and its associated abuses have noticeably contributed to a surge in mental health problems among patients frequenting diverse health facilities,” he said
He made the revelation during Kigezi Regional Joint Review Mission (JRM), held at the National Teachers College in Kabale Municipality.
Speaking at the JRM, Dr. Patrick Tusiime, the Commissioner of the Department of Communicable Diseases, Prevention, and Control within the Ministry of Health share insights on the 4th Quarter of the FY2022/2023 report by the ministry of health which ranked Kigezi region in the second position as Uganda’s leading alcohol consumer.
According to the report, the regional distribution of OPD attendance due to Alcohol use disorder per 100,000 population shows that, 42.1 people in Kampala are drunkards followed by Kigezi Sub region with 24.4.
The report also indicates that 56.4 people in Kampala use Substances and Kigezi Sub region follows with only 7.3 drug users.
But, Dr. Nyeko emphasized that forsaking harmful substances can avert needless suffering urging individuals to hold for their personal well-being.
He also revealed that Kigezi region is also leading in cases of non communicable diseases calling for widespread vaccination against preventable diseases.
Kigezi Sub-region also stands at the forefront of the prevalence of high blood pressure, among other non-communicable diseases. Out of 100,000 population who went to health facilities, 1841.6 had Diabetes, 2667.8 had Hypertension, 64.6 had Cancer of prostate and 159.5 people suffering from Bipolar Disorder, 6.8 had Cancer of Breasts, 1.4 had Cancer of the Cervical, and 32.7 had unipolar disorder.
Dr. Tusiime called for concerted action from local communities to confront the looming challenge of non-communicable diseases, which are, by their nature, largely preventable.
