By Ramona Engler | Charity Coordinator
In September Kamili has been honoured to receive the 2021 UN Interagency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF) Award, for their exceptional work in providing community mental health services and for their commitment to battling the stigma surrounding mental health.
About the UNIATF Task Force
The impact that non-communicable diseases (NCD's) and mental health issues impose on all countries in the world are still on the rise and currently, about 70% of all deaths around the world are related to NCD's. Considering that most NCD's or at least their outcome could be prevented through access to proper healthcare, this is an incredibly high percentage. They not only have severe impacts on an individuals life but also on countries as a whole, due to the high burden of social and economical losses.
Addressing and reducing the impact of NCD's has therefore been included in the agenda of the 'Sustainable Development Goals', with the target to reduce premature mortality from NCDs by one-third through prevention and treatment, and promoting mental health and wellbeing by 2030. To promote and achieve these goals the task force is therefore joining together over 40 UN agencies, supporting governments in addressing NCDs and establishing a platform for cooperation of governments and non-governmental actors. The strategy is based on 4 pillars: Supporting governments to increase their capacity of action, mobilizing resources, promoting partnerships and acting as an example for reform.
Hope for the future
Receiving the award is therefore not only an honour for Kamili and their hard work, moreover, it is another step towards fighting the stigma surrounding mental health in Kenya. Despite their efforts, mental health services in Kenya remain poor and only 0.1% of the governments budget is dedicated to improving the access to mental health facilities. Kamili has big goals and wants to increase its outreach, by having trained mental health nurses in all 47 counties by 2023. This award hopefully increases the government's recognition of mental health as a public health issue and the urgency for action.
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