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Mental health law reforms in Uganda: lessons learnt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Joshua Ssebunnya
Affiliation:
Butabika National Referral and Teaching Mental Hospital, Uganda, email joy95h@yahoo.co.uk
Sheila Ndyanabangi
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health, Uganda Government, Uganda
Fred Kigozi
Affiliation:
Butabika National Referral and Teaching Mental Hospital, Uganda
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Abstract

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Ugandan mental health legislation, which dates from 1964, principally aims to remove persons with mental disorders from the community but also to protect their safety, by keeping them in confinement, although this has been without consideration for clinical care. In response to criticism from various stakeholders and advocates and the need to reflect modern clinical care, Uganda undertook to review and amend the mental health legislation, as part of the Mental Health and Poverty Project (MHaPP). We report on work in progress advancing new legislation.

Type
Mental health law profiles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2014

References

Flisher, A. J., Lund, C., Funk, M., et al (2007) Mental health policy development and implementation in four African countries. Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 505516.Google Scholar
Mulumba, M. (2007) Analysis of the Uganda Mental Treatment Act from a Human Rights and Public Health Perspective. SSRN, Working Paper Series. SSRN-WPS-23. Available at http://psychrights.org/Countries/Uganda/UgandasMentalHealthLaw.pdf (accessed March 2014).Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2001) World Health Report 2001. Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope. WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2003) Mental Health Policy and Service Guidance Package: Mental Health Legislation and Human Rights. WHO.Google Scholar
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