A summary of mental health services for children, adolescents, and youth in primary health care settings in South Africa

Njabulo Mbanda^*

• The Independent Institute of Education, National, Johannesburg, South Africa

South African children face several threats to their health and safety which include poverty, inadequate healthcare and education, alarming rates of teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual assault. Despite the National Department of Health (NDoH) formalizing the provision of youth-friendly services, mental health provision for this demographic remains fragmented and poorly coordinated and excessively focused on HIV adherence. This paper aimed to extrapolate and consolidate features of mental health programmes for adolescents and youth in the primary health care settings in South Africa. The goal was to ascertain the extent to which these services are aligned with policy and guidelines for youth health programmes in the county. The review findings reveals the absence of a standardised mental health package in primary healthcare settings which affects the availability and quality of health services. The strong co-existence between HIV, mental health, and social challenges such as gender-based violence gives rise to psychosocial services that are heavily focused on HIV treatment adherence. Training healthcare providers on mental health and equipping them with the ability to see mental health beyond that of improving adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) will facilitate in addressing the mental health needs of young people efficiently and effectively.