ArticleInternational journal of mental health systems2022
A situational analysis of the mental health system of the West Region of Cameroon using the World Health Organization's assessment instrument for mental health systems (WHO-AIMS).
Article in International journal of mental health systems, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- A review of mental health and psychosocial support needs in Central Africa with emphasis on service gaps and opportunities for action.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Depression and the revolving door of HIV care: using multistate approaches to understand complex longitudinal exposure/outcome relationships among a cohort of people entering HIV care in Cameroon from 2019 to 2020.BMJ public health · 2025Article
- Epidemiological profile of road traffic injury patients, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) screening uptake in hospitals in Fako Division, Cameroon.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Factors influencing integration of mental health screening and treatment at HIV clinic settings in Cameroon: a qualitative study of health providers' perspectives.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Living with psychosis in West and Southeast Africa: SUCCEED Africa's four-country situation analysis.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Prevalence, risk factors and management of common mental health disorders in Cameroon: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2023Article
- "It is because of the love for the job that we are still here": Mental health and psychosocial support among health care workers affected by attacks in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- On the Mental Health Needs Under the Russian Invasion in Ternopil, Ukraine: A Preliminary Report on the Provision of Mental Health Service.Annals of global health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe publication of the World Health Report of 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO) raised awareness of mental health worldwide. It reported a higher burden of mental illnesses in developing countries, with fewer resources to address the conditions. Since then, many initiatives have been taken in Cameroon to improve the mental health of the population, but these efforts lack local scientific evidence to support them. This study aims to describe the mental health services available in the West Region of Cameroon and to provide evidence-based support to this process.
methodWe used the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health systems (WHO-AIMS) version 2.2 to collect, analyze, and report the data on mental health services offered in 2020 in the West Region of Cameroon. We extracted our data from the registers of 10 mental health facilities of the region, and we interviewed the staff in these facilities and at the Ministry of Public Health.
resultsThe region is divided into 20 health districts, of which six offered mental health services. As a whole, Cameroon had a mental health policy, mental health plan, but no mental health legislation or emergency plan. There was no specific budget for mental health in the country. In the West Region there were not any psychiatrists. Mental health services were provided by nurses, psychologists, general practitioners, and neurologists. There were 1.87 human resources in mental health facilities per 100,000 population, of which 1.4 were nurses. 1 in 1.4 of these nurses worked in the main city. There was no formal link of mental health services with other sectors and no publication in the previous five years about mental health in the region referenced on PubMed.
conclusionIn 2020, the access to mental health services in the West Region of Cameroon was inequitable. The approach to mental health system development was not inclusive and not supported by enough scientific evidence.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.