NIPAM shines spotlight on Mental Health.

The Institute of Public Administration and Management of Namibia (NIPAM) held a

Mental Health Seminar at NIPAM Headquarters in Windhoek aimed at bringing
mental health issues to the fore of the discussions taking place in not only the
private and public business sectors but also in the society at large.

The panelist at the event included Dr.Metusalem Nakale (MC), Dr. Butty Salom ,
Selma Kamanya ( Former Ms.Namibia), Ms.Edwina Mensah-Husselmann (Clinical
Psychologist), and Ms.Yvonne Stramiss ( Psychological Councillor).

Mental health plays an important role in the lives of all people within a society as
every individual is susceptible to its effects. These words were echoed by the Nipam
Executive Director Ms.Maria Nangolo who said the following “We want to sensitize
Namibian communities that mental illness is a reality and an extremely dangerous
enemy concerning social well-being. We want to let our stakeholders know the
importance of identifying people living with mental health challenges so that they
feel and know that they are not alone”. She further stated that it is in the best
interest of not only communities to take note of mental health but also urged
organizations both in the private sector and public sector to take the mental
wellbeing of employees seriously as not doing so can have negative effects on any
organization.

An attendee and panelist at the Mental Health Seminar Justina Nasini a Training
Officer from Nampost mentioned that her main takeaway from the seminar was the
importance that mental health plays in the productivity of an organization.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in their most recent mental health
Atlas that most developing countries do not specifically focus on mental health when
they take large scale societal surveys but choose to rather lump in mental health in
general statistics along with crime.

In low-income countries, the majority of Member States reported that mental health
data is compiled as part of general statistics, but not in a specific mental health
report. Importantly, in none of the responding low-income countries, a specific
report focusing on mental health activities in both the public and private sectors has
been published by the Health Department or any other responsible government unit
in the last two years. Reporting on mental health indicators that include both public
and private sectors remains a challenge and is below 25% in all WHO regions (WHO
2017).

The lack of reporting on mental health issues in developing countries shows the
importance of an organization like NIPAM advocating for mental health issues to
enact greater societal change when it comes mental wellbeing of not only citizens
but employees specifically.