Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

A research agenda for mental health in sub-Saharan Africa

Nature Medicine volume 30, pages 616–617 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

As with other parts of the world, African countries are dealing with the repercussions of rising rates of mental health conditions, especially among young people1. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have limited financial resources to address these challenges while facing other pressing priorities such as food insecurity and malnutrition, rapid urbanization, infectious disease outbreaks and prolonged conflicts2. Mental health research continues to be underfunded and mental health services are a neglected aspect of healthcare throughout the continent.

A 2-day workshop was initiated jointly by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) to explore the development of a strategic research agenda in this area, with a focus on life course and multisectoral approaches to mental health research and interventions. This event brought together mental health researchers, policymakers, implementers and people with lived experience of mental health conditions from many parts of Africa and beyond. This initiative was rooted in two previous international meetings addressing sustainable development and social determinants of mental health in low- and middle-income countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. COVID-10 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Lancet 398, 1700–1712 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 https://bit.ly/494Zs3o (2022).

  3. Chibanda, D. et al. Lancet Psychiatry 8, 553–555 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. MacDougall, A. G. et al. Int. J. Ment. Health 51, 32–60 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Africa CDC. Non-Communicable Diseases, Injuries Prevention and Control, and Mental Health Promotion Strategy (2022–2026) https://bit.ly/3wecfla (2022).

  6. The Academy of Medical Sciences. Advancing Multisectoral and Life-Course Approaches in Mental Health Research: Workshop Report https://bit.ly/42p9nOB (2022).

  7. Lund, C. et al. Lancet Psychiatry 5, 357–369 (2018).

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Academy of Science of South Africa and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for organizing the workshop.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SAMRC-DSI/NRF-UL Research Chair in Mental Health and Society, University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa

    Tholene Sodi

  2. Health Services and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Melanie Abas

  3. Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Mohammed Abdulaziz & Adelard Kakunze

  4. Pan African Network of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

    Action Amos

  5. Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Action Amos

  6. UCL Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UK

    Rochelle A. Burgess

  7. Department of Social Work, Community Development, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Rochelle A. Burgess

  8. Centre for Global Mental Health, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Charlotte Hanlon & Crick Lund

  9. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Charlotte Hanlon

  10. Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana

    Lily Kpobi

  11. Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Crick Lund

  12. World Health Organization South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Kibachio J. Mwangi

  13. Africa Mental Health Research and Training Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya

    Victoria Mutiso

  14. Global Mental Health Peer Network, Paarl, South Africa

    Charlene Sunkel

  15. BasicNeeds-Ghana, Tamale, Ghana

    Peter Yaro

  16. Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Louise Arseneault

Authors
  1. Tholene Sodi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melanie Abas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mohammed Abdulaziz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Action Amos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rochelle A. Burgess
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Charlotte Hanlon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Adelard Kakunze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Lily Kpobi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Crick Lund
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Kibachio J. Mwangi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Victoria Mutiso
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Charlene Sunkel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Peter Yaro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Louise Arseneault
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tholene Sodi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sodi, T., Abas, M., Abdulaziz, M. et al. A research agenda for mental health in sub-Saharan Africa. Nat Med 30, 616–617 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02779-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02779-6

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing