Abstract
The increase of mental health issues globally has been well documented and now reflected in the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals as a matter of global health significance. At the same time, studies show the mental health situations in conflict and post-conflict settings much higher than the rest of the world, lack the financial, health services and human resource capacity to address the challenges. The study used a descriptive literature review and collected data from public domain, mostly mental health data from WHO's Global Health Observatory. Since there is no primary database for Somalia's public health research, the bibliographic databases used for mental health in this study included Medline, PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. The review of the mental health literature shows one of the biggest casualties of the civil war was loss of essential human resources in healthcare as most either fled the country or were part of the victims of the war. In an attempt to address the human resource gap, there are calls to task-shift so that available human resource can be utilized efficiently and effectively. This policy paper discusses the case of Somalia, the impact of decade-long civil conflict on mental health and health services, the significant gap in mental health service delivery and how to strategically and evidently task-shift in closing the mental health gap in service delivery.
Highlights
The increase of mental health issues globally has been well documented and reflected in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as a matter of global health significance
Despite the enormous financial consequences of mental health, tackling mental illness is still less of a priority in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with most such countries allocating
Three decades of conflict and violence in Somalia have led to economic marginalization and social exclusion of young people in Somalia, who make up about 70% of the population, as well as other vulnerable people such as women and children and internally displaced people
Summary
Mental, neurological and substance use disorders affect about 10% of the general population, but in countries affected by humanitarian crises, one in every five people is estimated to suffer from some form of mental disorder (Marquez, 2018; Ryan et al, 2021). More than 75% of people with mental, neurological and substance use conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), especially in conflict and post-conflict settings, do not have access to effective mental health services (Ryan et al, 2021). Despite the enormous financial consequences of mental health, tackling mental illness is still less of a priority in LMIC, with most such countries allocating
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