KISIIZI HOSPITAL NEWS JANUARY 2006

MENTAL HEALTH WORK CELEBRATION

Friday the 13^th January was a special day for Kisiizi. A special event was held to celebrate eight years of the Mental Health work in Rukingiri District at Kisiizi.

The mental health work was started by Dr Lionel Mills in 1997 since which it has gone from strength to strength. This has been due to the dedication of the staff, most of whom have spent some years in training. Yusufu Kule qualified as a Psychiatric Clinical Officer (PCO) in December 2002. Sister Nancy Mwebesa qualified as a Registered Psychiatric Nurse the same year. Sr Nancy is now training as a PCO and Sr Jiovia Tumwebaze who qualified as RPN in 2004 is in charge of the ward.

The building of the new Children’s ward made space to set up an enlarged psychiatric ward with 20 beds in December 2003. The average occupancy is 16.

Five out patient clinics are held each month, with an average attendance of 30. In addition 4 clinics are held in other places around the district each month with an attendance of 25 patients. Altogether since 1997 2056 patients have been registered up to 12^th January 2006. Before 1997 people with mental health problems were largely hidden. In 2001 users of psychiatric services, and their families started a support group which now has 270 members.

The celebrations were held in 3 marquees on the school playing fields. The principal guest was Dr Sheila Ndyanabangi, Principal Medical Officer in the Mental Health Section of the Ministry of Health. Other senior psychiatric specialists from Mbarara and Kabale also attended.

The emphasis of the day was on the celebration of progress to date. The programme was a mix of speeches, musical items and dances by the supporters group, and drama by the student nurses. A major feature was the testimonies from past patients. Altogether 600 were present on this joyful day.

Special mention was made of the support of Friends of Kisiizi. Drugs for psychiatric patients are expensive and treatment is often needed for a long period. Psychiatric patients and their families are seldom able to afford the cost of treatment. Friends of Kisiizi and associated groups have made a large contribution to the cost of treating these patients.