Seventy percent of the global burden of mental disorders is located in low and middle income countries (LMIC),including sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, in Africa,only 0.62% of the national health budget is allocated to mental health compared to a global median of 2.8% and 5% in Europe. The government is the source of funding in 62%of patients with severe mental disorder in the World Health Organisation (WHO), Africa Region, the lowest of all the WHO regions, and lower compared to a global median of 79%. This is compounded by poor resources, with mental health outpatient facilities in WHO Africa Region being less that 10% of the global median. To address these problems, the WHO launched its Mental Health Action Gap Programme (mhGAP) in 2008, to scale-up mental health services in low and middle income countries (LMIC). The book is directed to all policy makers in sub-Saharan Africa to aid decision making about the urgent need for sustainable and relevant mental health care strategies, and the important areas that need priority. The book should be helpful to local and international researchers in formulating research questions relevant to the African continent and it will be of interest to medical practitioners and students in the region as adjunct to standard text books.

The mental-health conditions and services in most African countries are of great concern. There is a stark distinction of health disparities between urban and rural communities across these countries. There is an unequal divide in the allocation of resources for health related services, and mental health services have become a political decision more than the fair distribution of resources. The situation is even worse in the less developed countries across the various sub-regions. People all over the African continent are increasingly being affected by many common psychological and mental health disorders, as well as illnesses that go untreated for many years. This book is based on the assumption that there is a need to examine the conditions/services of mental health prevailing in different African countries to inform and educate people about the situation, and also to serve as an additional source of knowledge on African mental health issues. Additionally, there is a dearth of literature on mental health services from multiple African countries accessible through one anthology. Also notable is that the social work and human services professions in Africa lack textbooks written by indigenous African educators on pertinent issues affecting the people in the continent. Therefore, this book serves to fill that gap and to contribute to literature concerning Africa. The book examines mental health conditions and services in terms of diagnoses, causes, treatment and psycho-social services provided by some countries in Africa, namely Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Even though, mental health issues have been written about by some African mental health specialists and experts, the chapters in this book are written mostly by African social work professionals and psychologists, and this is presumably the first of its kind. Each country describes the situations, conditions, resources, stigma/discrimination, traditional beliefs and practices concerning mental health, and also discusses the ways to improve the conditions and services for these populations.

This Reader is about the changing trends in mental health care and research in Ghana. The book includes a brief history of Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School and Mental Health Care in Ghana through the eyes of professionals who have lived this history. There is also a revised situation analysis of mental health services and legislation from 2005. These are followed by three main sections on Conceptualization of Mental Illness (depression, religion and illness, autism, substance use disorders and schizophrenia), Mental Health Practice in a teaching hospital setting (referrals to Korle-Bu, how psychiatric illnesses manifest, how people's lives are affected and what skill sets and resources are available for dealing with them) and finally the Department's focus on research includes the Mental Health Information System, Sickle Cell Disease, Medical Ethics, and Liaison Psychiatry. In the concluding paragraph, read about the way forward in mental health care and research.

In many African countries, mental health issues, including the burden of serious mental illness and trauma, have not been adequately addressed. These essays shed light on the treatment of common and chronic mental disorders, including mental illness and treatment in the current climate of economic and political instability, access to health care, access to medicines, and the impact of HIV-AIDS and other chronic illness on mental health. While problems are rampant and carry real and devastating consequences, this volume promotes an understanding of the African mental health landscape in service of reform.

Millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders, and most do not have the resources to obtain treatment. The Uganda National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine hosted a workshop to discuss the state of care for MNS disorders in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mental, neurological, and substance use disorders are common, highly disabling, and associated with significant premature mortality. The impact of these disorders on the social and economic well-being of individuals, families, and societies is large, growing, and underestimated. Despite this burden, these disorders have been systematically neglected, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, with pitifully small contributions to scaling up cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Systematically compiling the substantial existing knowledge to address this inequity is the central goal of this volume. This evidence-base can help policy makers in resource-constrained settings as they prioritize programs and interventions to address these disorders.

"The essays in this collection are written to make readers (re)consider what is possible in Africa. The essays shake the tree of received wisdom and received categories, and hone in on the complexities of life under ecological and economic constraints. Yet, throughout this volume, people do not emerge as victims, but rather as inventors, engineers, scientists, planners, writers, artists, and activists, or as children, mothers, fathers, friends, or lovers - all as future-makers. It is precisely through agents such as these that Africa is futuring: rethinking, living, confronting, imagining, and relating in the light of its many emerging tomorrows"--