06 November 2014
The Democratic Alliance has called for the critical shortage of mental health professionals in the country to be addressed.
DA Deputy MP of Health
Heinrich Volmink said in a statement that while the disease burden continues to
increase, with an estimated one in every three South Africans suffering from
some form of mental illness, our health system is unable to properly address
and treat the growing number of patients.
Volmink said a reply to a DA
parliamentary question has revealed that South Africa suffers from a massive
shortage of mental health professionals.
Volmink said the reply indicates
that the North West, Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga are the hardest hit
in terms of an insufficient number of psychologists and psychiatrists.
“Limpopo and Mpumalanga have
only 24.2% and 33% of the vacancies filled for psychiatrists, respectively,
while the North West province has only 31% of the psychologists it needs.
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