Excerpt

In August 2009 the Uganda National Academy of Sciences Forum on Health and Nutrition and the U.S. Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Neuroscience and Neurological Disorders jointly hosted a workshop in Kampala, Uganda, titled Quality of Care Issues for Mental Health and Neurological Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 150 researchers, providers, patient advocates, and policy specialists came together to discuss the current state of care for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders in sub-Saharan Africa. The goal was to uncover strategies to improve the quality and consistency of care delivered in sub-Saharan Africa, taking into account resource constraints, infrastructure limitations, and other realities. Workshop speakers were charged to do the following:

• Discuss opportunities to ensure continuity of care and provide sustainable care within a country’s existing healthcare system.
• Identify resources that are either currently available, or that could be made available in cost-effective and efficient ways, to aid in the treatment and prevention of disease.
• Examine the need for national, evidence-based policies within national healthcare systems that address quality-of-care issues for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders.
• Explore opportunities to facilitate collaborations among a variety of stakeholders, including policy makers and healthcare professionals.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Workshop on Quality of Care Issues for Mental Health and Neurological Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa Planning Committee
• Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders
• Uganda National Academy of Sciences Forum on Health and Nutrition
• Uganda National Academy of Sciences Council
• Reviewers
• Preface
• Introduction
  • ABOUT THE WORKSHOP AND FORUMS
• 1. Background
  • ESTABLISHING A COMMON TERMINOLOGY
  • THE MNS DISEASE BURDEN
  • STIGMA AND HUMAN RIGHTS
• 2. Systems of Care for MNS in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • THE MNS TREATMENT GAP
  • HEALTHCARE SYSTEM CHALLENGES
  • OVERCOMING HEALTHCARE SYSTEM CHALLENGES
• 3. MNS Healthcare Policy
  • CASE STUDY: UGANDA MENTAL HEALTH POLICY
  • CASE STUDY: SOUTH AFRICA
• 4. Needs, Opportunities, and Next Steps
  • NEED FOR SUSTAINABLE, FEASIBLE STRATEGIES
  • COLLABORATION
  • NEXT STEPS
• Appendixes
  • A Putting into Context MNS Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • B References
  • C Agenda
  • D Registered Attendees
  • E Speaker Biographies

Rapporteurs: Bruce M Altevogt, Sarah L Hanson, Zaam Namuli Ssali, and Patricia Cuff

This project was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Alzheimer’s Association; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; CeNeRx Biopharma; the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH, Contract Nos. N01-OD-4-213, N01-OD-4-2139) through the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Eye Institute, the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Eli Lilly and Company; GE Healthcare, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, LLC; Merck Research Laboratories; the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; the National Science Foundation (Contract No. OIA-0753701); the Society for Neuroscience; and Wyeth Research, Inc.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2010. Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders in Sub-Saharan Africa: Reducing the Treatment Gap, Improving Quality of Care: Summary of a Joint Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The views presented in this publication are those of the editors and attributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. It was also approved by the Uganda National Academy of Sciences Executive Council.