7 Female Trailblazers Who Took A Stand In 2016

With so much attention paid to high-profile women in 2016, from Hillary Clinton to Wonder Woman, it's easy to lose sight of lesser-known women who are blazing a trail in low- and middle-income countries. In ways big and small, these women have moved the needle on gender equality by being activists, role models or simply taking …

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It’s time to pay attention to mental health

About 100 patients climbed over the wall at the Mathari Teaching and Referral Hospital in Nairobi. Many reports linked the incident to the country-wide doctors’ and nurses’ strike that began on the same day. The fact is that even without the strike, the hospital was already understaffed, overcrowded, and underfunded. The whole country has only 88 psychiatrists. This …

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Sitawa Wafula: Kenya’s Young Mental Health Tzar

Sitawa Wafula was diagnosed with epilepsy and bipolar disorder when she was just 17. Her experience of being a woman with a mental illness in Kenya has, at times, been harrowing. She once lost a job because she had a seizure, and had to drop out of university after being raped and finding nowhere to …

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‘Africa Rising’ set to fail unless mental health is prioritised

A quick Google search about mental health in Africa shows images of people locked up, in chains and kept in inhumane conditions. The topic is seen as taboo and many are quick to dismiss it. Unfortunately, this attitude is prevalent even among African governments tasked with ensuring citizens get the highest attainable standard of health …

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Dignity for mental health

A quick Google search on images about mental health in Africa shows people locked up in chains and kept in inhumane conditions.   The topic is taboo and many are quick to dismiss it. Unfortunately, this attitude is prevalent even among African governments which should ensure citizens access the highest attainable standard of healthcare, including …

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