2016 budget is discriminatory – Ngwale

Zambia Disability HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Programme Director, Elijah Ngwale, has expressed worry that mental health institutions are still under-funded and under-prioritized.

Mr. Ngwale says that the supply of essential medicines needed by people with mental illness has remained irregular.

He also notes with concern that people with mental illness still suffer discrimination, stigmatization and other human rights abuses.

Mr. Ngwale says the effect of all these inadequacies is affecting the development of the country’s health sector.

He stressed that mental illness was extremely debilitating, as it made it impossible for the country to maximize the use of human resources.

Speaking in an interview, Mr. Ngwale emphasized the importance of developing the use of technology to create an effective and efficient mental health system that effectively addressed the needs of persons with mental illness and epilepsy.

And Mr. Ngwale has described the 2016 national budget as discriminatory towards persons with disabilities.