End mental health crisis to achieve sexual, reproductive health and rights
The Mental Health Policy 2015-2030 seeks to address the systemic challenges, emerging trends and mitigate the burden of mental health problems and disorders.
What you need to know:
- We need proper interventions put in place to protect young people from engaging in risky behaviors, psychosocial trauma and suicidal attempts.
- The Constitution provides every person a right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes mental health.
The past few years have seen the emergence of mental illness as a major threat among young people aged between 15-29 years, if recent news headlines are anything to go by. We need proper interventions put in place to address the situation, to protect young people from engaging in risky behaviors, psychosocial trauma and suicidal attempts.
Some of the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) effects that have ignited mental health disorders among young people during Covid-19 include reduced access to family planning which has led to high rates of teen pregnancies, increased sexual gender-based violence such as rape and defilement, economic stress which has led to transactional sex and exploitation, leading to increased spread of STIs, HIV infections and social stigma and also, reduced access to youth-friendly services. Most adolescents and youths are suffering in silence.
Highest standard of mental health
The Constitution provides every person a right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes mental health. The Mental Health Policy 2015-2030 seeks to address the systemic challenges, emerging trends and mitigate the burden of mental health problems and disorders. It aims to pursue policy measures and strategies for optimal health status and capacity of each individual. Its main goal is achievement of the highest standard of mental health.
Likewise, the Kenya National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy aims to enhance the reproductive health status of adolescents and contribute towards the realization of their full potential in national progress.
Let the national and county governments implement evidence-supported practices, identify intervention strategies that are culturally appropriate and strengthen the accessibility of mental health resources for young people.
Mr Magaiwa is youth reproductive health advocate at the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa (Naya). [email protected]
