Malawi is a country that has a multitude of urgent challenges in the health sector. Various key stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Health, international NGOs and private health institutions have worked tirelessly for decades to improve healthcare countrywide, especially in the context of life-threatening diseases like HIV/Aids and Malaria. This has resulted in a trend of continuous improvement as evidenced by key metrics such as the drop in the under-5 mortality rates to 64/1000 in 2015 from 242/1000 in 1990.

Whilst this improvement is very encouraging, there are new challenges ahead for the sector in Malawi. Due to the urgency of physical health challenges, mental health in Malawi has been largely ignored.

Statistics on mental health in Malawi are largely unavailable, but there is a worrying trend in the society as more and more people are speaking out about their mental health challenges. Due to cultural reasons, mental health in Malawi is generally perceived as a "luxury" illness suffered by well-to-do individuals. This has led to a dangerous attitude where most people believe that mental health patients just "need to get over it" and marginalize the issue. While mental health is obviously not as pressing a challenge as the many others in the health sector, the effects of poor mental health in Malawi are becoming quite apparent in the society ...

Caring Hands Centre (CHC) is a psychosocial support center for orphans and vulnerable children in peri-urban areas in Malawi. CHC aims to support orphans and vulnerable children in becoming active survivors rather than passive victims through integrated services such as; emotional healthcare, psychosocial support, play and stimulation, activity centers and vocational training.

Read the full article about addressing the mental health challenges in Malawi by Christine Mhone at medium.com.