Psychiatry in Ethiopia

Ethiopia, the third most populous country in Africa, having about 27 million people, has a mental health system involving two psychiatric hospitals and six psychiatrists. The author worked as a psychiatrist for six months in the Addis Ababa psychiatric hospital and obtained statistics relating to the patients consulting the outpatient department. Age, sex, occupation, religion, place of origin, alcohol and chat (a local stimulant) usage, diagnosis and previous treatment data were recorded for all the 281 patients evaluated during one 5 1/2 day week. These data are described and analysed, and examples and comments are given additionally on the frequency of some neurological syndromes and the rarity of depression. This latter finding is then discussed in the light of several of the conspicuous oral trends in the upbringing of children and also in the adult life of Ethiopian society.

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The Arab Spring movement: a catalyst for reform at the psychiatric hospital in Tripoli, Libya

International Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/s1749367600003842 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 56-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Adel Abuazza

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Illness ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Health System ◽

Psychiatric Hospital ◽

Psychotropic Medication ◽

Mental Health System ◽

Psychiatric Hospitals ◽

The Arab Spring

Decades of neglect have left the mental health system in Libya in bad shape. Services for the entire population are scarce, highly centralised and provided only through two psychiatric hospitals in the two biggest cities of the country. There are virtually no other mental health services anywhere else in Libya. Even the most basic of services, such as the availability of psychotropic medication for people with severe mental illness, are scarce outside Tripoli and Benghazi. This paper reviews the state of the country's mental health services since the civil war of 2011 and highlights a new fourfold approach taken by the management of the psychiatric hospital in Tripoli.

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Patient Rights and Law: tobacco smoking in psychiatric wards and the Israeli Prevention of Smoking Act

Nursing Ethics ◽

10.1191/096973304ne725oa ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 472-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Ilya Kagan ◽

Ronit Kigli-Shemesh ◽

Nili Tabak ◽

Moshe Z Abramowitz ◽

Jacob Margolin

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health System ◽

Tobacco Smoking ◽

Mental Health System ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Psychiatric Hospitals ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Public Places ◽

Patients Rights

In August 2001, the Israeli Ministry of Health issued its Limitation of Smoking in Public Places Order, categorically forbidding smoking in hospitals. This forced the mental health system to cope with the issue of smoking inside psychiatric hospitals. The main problem was smoking by compulsorily hospitalized psychiatric patients in closed wards. An attempt by a psychiatric hospital to implement the tobacco smoking restraint instruction by banning the sale of cigarettes inside the hospital led to the development of a black market and cases of patient exploitation in return for cigarettes. This article surveys the literature dealing with smoking among psychiatric patients, the role of smoking in patients and the moral dilemmas of taking steps to prevent smoking in psychiatric hospitals. It addresses the need for public discussion on professional caregivers’ dilemmas between their commitment to uphold the law and their duty to act as advocates for their patients’ rights and welfare.

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