30 Jul 2023

At least 3.7 per cent of Batswana are affected by mental ill health and psychosocial problems.

Presenting the second reading of the Mental Health Bill of 2023, Minister of Health, Dr Edwin Dikoloti said of the 3.7 per cent, 2.7 per cent had mental illness while one per cent had severe mental illness.

“There are also indications that this percentage may increase if appropriate interventions are not excessively pursued,” he warned.

Globally, he said it was estimated that at least 792 million people lived with a mental health condition of some kind, which translated to 10.7 per cent of the global population.

“Mental disorders impose an inomous disease burden and an increasing obstacle to development,” said the minister.

In recognising the magnitude of the global mental health illnesses, Dr Dikoloti said a resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1991 calling for the protection of persons with mental illnesses and the improvement of mental healthcare. The resolution, he said, was followed by the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities of 2006.

In line with the resolution, the minister said in 2015 a review of the Mental Disorders Act was undertaken and a recommendation was made to repeal the act and develop a new one.

“According to recent research, mental health interventions in many Commonwealth member states, including Botswana, are outdated and do not fulfil member states international human rights obligations towards persons with mental illnesses,” said Dr Dikoloti.

The minister said the Botswana Mental Health Bill of 2023 was developed using the UN Conversation on the Rights of People with Disabilities as a whole standard to ensure it was compliant with the convention.

Dr Dikoloti explained that the bill sought to provide for mental healthcare, treatment and services for persons with mental illnesses by re-balancing the criteria of detention so that it only happened as the last resort ‘when all other options have been explored and considered’.

“The bill gives patients more control over their care and treatment to ensure that, in most cases, clinicians can administer compulsory treatment only if there is a strong reason to do so,” he explained.

All patients formally detained under the act, he said, would have a ‘statutory right to care and treatment plan drawn up between the patient and their clinician and personalised based on the patient’s needs to give them a clear roadmap on their discharge from the hospital’,” he added.

By doing so, he said the bill sought to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of such persons during delivery of mental healthcare, treatment and services, ‘as there are some cases when patients are not able to make decisions about their own care or feel that they can benefit from greater support’.

Minister Dikoloti noted that patients were not always able to choose who could represent them, and that their nearest relative automatically qualified to act on their behalf.

He said the bill would change the situation by allowing patients to choose a person whom they believed was best placed to look after their interests. 

He added the powers of the nominated person would be increased and that they would be consulted about the patient’s future care. Ends