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Papa Mamadou Diagne, a sociologist, writes: "There are no official figures" but "the number of mentally ill people on the streets of Dakar is on the rise"
Published 10h07, 09 July 2018
Last updated 10:09, 09 July 2018
HOMELESS. Senegalese professor in psychiatry and head of the department of mental health of the Senegalese Ministry Aida Sylla, she talks with a patient at the Fann hospital on July 6, 2018 in Dakar. Photo by Seyllou / AFP
DAKAR, Senegal – On the sunny avenues of Dakar, troubled souls roam aimlessly beside the traffic, mumbling often, sometimes begging, as the rest of the city ignores them
a hat Blue woolen and traditional white dresses, the air plunged into his thoughts, a man goes round in circles on the main square of the Senegalese capital, day after day.
At the end of the afternoon, his sporadic howls and calls from street vendors offering residents newspapers, fake sunglbades and alarm clocks. Pbadersby stopped paying attention
There are "no official numbers" of Senegalese sick and abandoned wandering the streets, told AFP Papa Mamadou Diagne, a sociologist who wrote an academic article on the issue. But, he wrote, "the number of mentally ill people on the streets of Dakar is increasing."
"Every morning they meet, go through garbage cans for food, and then disperse in the capital alone. who has a family, lack of money is the main reason why the sick person is left on the street. "
There are only five cadres in the country to treat mental health problems, including two large psychiatric units in Dakar.In a country of 14 million, there is only one in the country. Thirty psychiatrists, according to an expert
Across the entire African continent, mental health problems are generally not treated, according to the experts.
– The people there are not. have failed to get help.In separate studies in Ethiopia and Nigeria, the figures have reached 90%.
Senegal is one of the economic heavyweights of the region and a hub for foreign investment and tourism.But a booming economy has not resulted in increased investments in mental health because resources are inevitably focused on physical diseases like the Malaria and HIV
Near an upscale neighborhood of Bougainvillea Grows in immaculate white villas, Dr. Aida Sylla, who is Senegal's first female psychiatrist, heads the psychiatric unit of Fann Hospital.
There are only 8 beds, all empty, in the green-walled building. Several women are waiting for a doctor, head down.
Patients arrive at home "when local authorities, police or firefighters intervene with an order of internment," she says.
The most common disorders are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. according to the Senegalese psychiatrist Jean Tine.
"We can feel that some patients want to be here, but once they are more stable, social workers are looking for their families because we do not have enough space, but some Parents do not want to, according to Sylla, some wealthy families want to give us money to keep them in the hospital. "
The suffering of patients is compounded by the rejection of their families, the psychiatrist, who also runs the mental health division of "Some parents ignore their children who roam the streets, mothers who ignore their daughters or mothers ignored by their families who end up begging on the street.select educated by their parents." [19659006] Violence, prison
Violence against this vulnerable group is omnipresent.
"This morning, I found a man whose hands were tied with a rope" by "
" Many mentally ill people are in jail, others are killing themselves or are being killed.
In much of Africa, particularly in conflict areas where trauma symptoms are severe, authorities mentally disrupted, sometimes chaining for years, ostensibly for their own safety.
In Senegal, many of those in need of treatment do not have access to medical help, and many are jailed, according to Amnesty International.
There are many mentally ill people in prisons. Whenever a sick person gets violent in the street, oddly enough, she ends up in prison, "said AFP Seydi Gbadama, director of the Amnesty Office in Senegal – Rappler. com
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