New measures announced to combat rising mental illness among civil servants
MABEL KEYA SHI KUKU-KNA
The number of employees in the public service suffering from mental illness continues to rise despite measures put in place to address mental health in the workplace.
State Department for Public Service Principal Secretary (PS) Amos Gathecha has revealed that the number of civil servants experiencing mental health issues has tripled to over 14,000 in 2023, up from 4,000 cases before 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
To address this is sue, the PS announced that counseling centers have been established in every Huduma Centre across the country to assist those in need of psychological support.
Additionally, individuals requiring tele-counseling can dial 1919 to be connected to a counselor who is ready to help them.
Data from the State Department of Public Service indicates that the country lost Sh62.2 billion due to mental health conditions, which is equivalent to 0.6 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The PS was speaking at the official opening of the 28th Annual National Human Resource Management (HRM) Conference, organized by the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM) in Naivasha.
Gathecha said the State Department for Public Service is in consultation with the Social Health Authority (SHA) to extend the contract for the provisions of the comprehensive medical insurance scheme for civil servants up to November 21st, 2024, to facilitate seamless transition and effective service delivery to the scheme beneficiaries.
He said a team has been constituted to put in place appropriate mechanisms so that civil servants continue to enjoy medical services and group life cover core as was the case in the now disbanded National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).
In the meantime, Gathecha urged all citizens to register under the new Social Health Insurance Fund.
The PS reiterated that the government is committed to building a Public Service that is strategic, fore sighted; developing highly skilled, agile and responsive service, digitalizing services and strengthening human capital approaches consistent with merit system principles including modernizing policies and practices for recruitment, retention, training and development.
Consequently, he noted, initiatives that have been undertaken in the recent past to trans form the workplace in the Public Service include development of the Human Resource Information System Kenya (HRIS- Ke) this year, which is a web based system that has been developed and will manage human resource functions in the public sector including payroll.