By Eriah Lule
According to a report released by the Uganda Counseling Association and the Ministry of Health on May 13, 2022, 14 million Ugandans are mentally ill. This means that 35 of every 100 people you meet in your daily activities may be dealing with a mental health issue.
The above statistics, according to experts, are of people who have reported to health facilities with acute conditions.
This is one of the just reasons why Mike Muhereza Kirungi, a law alumnus, teamed up with seven other people to try and close the big gap in the mental health area.
According to Mike, the country’s increasing percentage of mental health victims is concerning, and yet even the available rehabilitation centers are full. Concerned citizens are always left wondering who should come and help the government save the masses.
“If each of the 14 million people interacts with at least two individuals, then almost the whole population (47.12million Ugandans) is affected directly or indirectly.” “Today, this number has grown exponentially because of the events of the last two years,” said Dr. Charles Olaro, the director of curative services at the Ministry of Health.
Health.
Mike, with his partners, opened up a Center, center called Reclaim Health Rehabilitation Center located in Bwebajja in Wakiso District. The center’s vision is to bring closer medical attention to mental health patients as well as beat all the stereotypes attached to mental health.
“We are all sick; the degree of our sickness is now the question on the table,” he said. “With such worrying numbers, you just can’t sit home and watch the sky.”
In addition, he went on to say that one of the biggest challenges that patients face is the stigma associated with being in a rehab setting or visiting a mental health professional, as well as a lack of finances to help them access the proper medication.
He further noted that in the African notion, mental health is not taken seriously since it is more attached to witchcraft and laziness until it becomes serious. “There are a lot of stereotypes that are attached to this area, and given the ever-increasing number of patients, we better start advocacy early to beat all of them.”
The rehab deals with all kinds of addictions, depressions, and anxiety, not to mention but a few.
Mike projects that in the next 10 years, the center will have purchased a large parcel of land to facilitate as many patients as possible, as well as establish various branches in all regions of the country.
“If you make a survey, most of the rehabs are located in the central region.” “We want to establish in different parts of the country so we increase medical access to rural areas.” He said.
But who is Mike Kirungi Muhereza?
The 32-year-old was born in Masindi District, in the western part of the country, to Dr. Kirungi Moses and Kusiima Daisy, both medical professionals.
This didn’t even intrigue Mike a little to pursue his bachelor’s degree in law from 2012–2016, and he later went to the Law Development Center for his bar course.
The third born of six children to the couple is an advocate working with Tumukunde and Company Advocates.
With the highly qualified professionals at the rehab, Mike, the resident director, does the supervising. But this doesn’t stop him from engaging in other activities.
Mike loves music and is willing to even promote young talents like Allin. He is also the company secretary of Vimba Records and Nessim Pan Productions.
During his tenure at the university, he was the class representative president and is currently the publicity secretary for the Uganda Christina University Alumni Association. He is engaged to Prim Komuhendo, also a law alumnus and the Deputy Speaker of the Alumni Association.
