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By Cinderella Atenyo-Moroto
As Karamoja commemorated it’s belated World Mental Health Day on Thursday 6 November, at Moroto Boma grounds, in Moroto District, under the theme: “Access to Services: Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies,” several stakeholders called for more action to be taken to revert these increasing figures.
The stakeholders highlighted the urgent need to ensure that mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) reaches people affected by conflict, disaster, and displacement in real time if the issue is to be tackled, especially through educating the communities on what they need to do.
Officiated by the Assistant Resident District Commissioner Moroto, Mr. Aol Mark Musoka, the event is the reminder of the bigger picture of the effects of mental health within communities but also in the entire country, something that remains a matter of concern and needs a long-lasting solution.
Mr. Aol while addressing the gathering called on stakeholders to promote mental health awareness, care, advocacy and prevention in the communities urging that most people are suffering simply because they do not know how to deal with certain challenges they face, which often result into mental disorders.
According to Dr Thomas Walunguba, the Principal Psychiatric Clinical officer at Moroto Regional Referral Hospital, over 14million people in Uganda have mental health conditions, and in every four people, one is most likely to have a critical mental health issue. Walunguba explained that Moroto Regional Referral Hospital has seen a tremendous increase in mental health cases this year alone compared to other years.
He said this year, from January to September 2025, the facility has recorded a rising mental health conditions with 1,520 outpatients consultations, 175 inpatients admitted from January to July with severe mental health problems.
Meanwhile, Dr Solomon Ezama, the Senior Psychiatric Clinical officer at Moroto Regional Referral Hospital revealed that 865 females have sought medical attention from the specialists compared to the 655 males between January and September 2025. Dr. Ezama stated that most cases registered are related to alcoholism, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.
On the other hand, Kifunga Specioza Nawal, the District program coordinator working with StrongMind, an organization based in Kotido, noted that there’s a quiet number of emergencies and catastrophes like drought, floods, bush fires, cattle rustling, effect of climate on agriculture in the Karamoja Sub-region which all contribute to increase of mental issues especially among women.
Nawal explained that the mental health impacts of climate change are particularly severe for women in the region, where both environmental and societal factors compound their vulnerability because they have to directly carry their family’s burdens in such crucial moments compared to their male counterparts.
For instance, she said, during prolonged dry spells, women and girls are often left to care for their families, shouldering additional burdens due to entrenched gender inequality. However, the majority of their efforts are focused on women, who are disproportionately affected by depression at nearly twice the rate than men.
“For every woman we treat feel the benefits, positively impacted through the ripple effects of therapy,” Stated Nawal as she called upon government and other stakeholders to increase psychosocial support to most affected areas like Karamoja but focusing on women, whom she said are most affected.
The event, which begun at 7am with a 5km mental health run, and later a football match to create awareness attracted participants from all walks of life and was organized by Moroto Regional Referral Hospital in collaboration with development partners like IMHA, StrongMinds, WHITAKER, Riamriam, TPO and other partner.
World Mental Health Day is observed annually on 10 October, calling for stronger action to protect and expand mental health support in times of crisis. Current data shows that approximately 24.2% of adults and 22.9% of children in Uganda live with some form of mental illness, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
These figures come from systematic reviews and national surveys that reveal a silent epidemic affecting both urban and rural communities alike. Depression and anxiety disorders affect about one in four Ugandans, with depression prevalence estimated at 30.2% among various populations and anxiety disorders at 22.2% among adults. PTSD is also increasingly common, especially among survivors of conflict and displacement.
The Ministry of Health reports that mental disorders have surged from 24.2% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 32% afterward, with youth particularly vulnerable. A 2022 Makerere University study found that over 80% of university students exhibited symptoms of depression, driven by isolation and economic hardship.
Substance abuse further compounds this crisis. Uganda records one of Africa’s highest per capita alcohol consumption rates at 9.5 liters annually. Surveys shows 28% of urban youth regularly consume alcohol, often as a coping mechanism, while cannabis and other substances are on the rise.
Despite the scale of the problem, mental health funding remains critically low. Uganda allocates less than 1% of its health budget to mental health, mostly directed to Butabika National Referral Hospital, leaving vast gaps in community and rural care, including the regional referral Hospitals.
