The Ministry of Health reported an increase in the number of mental health cases according to a report from Butabika National Referral Hospital. While addressing the press, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Dr. Diana Atwine said that Ugandans ought to worry because the number of mental illnesses registered had more than doubled in a period of one year. “We want this message to go out; mental health is real. We have also seen some people instead of getting the treatment they opt to go for witchcraft, they think they have been bewitched. And these are illnesses that can be treated. Mental health is an illness like any other. When you seek treatment, you can actually get better and some actually have ended up committing suicide. By the way, some big percentage of our people are depressed but they don’t know. Our community has no capacity to tell who has depression and they think it is a character or it is behavior issues? Some of them are actually depressed, you have heard of people who jump off the building and in most cases most of those people have had depression and it has remained undetected.” Said, Dr. Diana Atwine – Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health.

According to statistics, Uganda registered around 350 patients three years ago, a number that has more than doubled with the current statistics putting the figure at 850 patients. The high numbers registered among the youth worried the health officials fearing that by 2020, depression may be the second most diagnosed disorder after the heart disease if something is not done to avert the situation. "The biggest percentage are young people, who come with mental illness; it's like 90% is actually associated with drugs. And it is catching up in the young generation in universities and in schools. And really we have to find how we can communicate to these that the dangers of drug abuse unless it is really handled with seriousness, it is going to cause us trouble in our nation." Said, Dr. Diana Atwine – Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health.

The health officials also faulted the laxity in Ugandan laws following the recent Anti-Tobacco Bill that intended to regulate the use of tobacco and also put in place anti-smoking measures but have continuously been violated. “Now we see we are not enforcing the laws on smoking. We still see people smoking and causing passive smoking to the people who don’t smoke in the public places. It is actually illegal to smoke in public places and I see people fearing to comment or maybe they don’t know. But we need to tell the people that we now have the law in the country that prohibits smoking in public places. And anybody who smokes in public places can be fined and can be taken on. But we need our population to know, otherwise even people who don’t smoke are passively affected.” Said, Dr. Diana Atwine – Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health.