Yaounde: Authorities reveal over 800 mentally ill persons removed from streets.

The figures are said to have been made public recently. The persons are said to have been cleared from the major streets of the nation’s capital, thanks to a partnership between the Yaounde City Council, the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs.

At a recent meeting in Yaounde, the Steering Committee of the project to remove mentally unstable persons from the streets, reviewed work done since 2021.

Speaking during the meeting, the Yaounde City Mayor, Luc Messi Atangana, is said to have noted that the aim of the programme was to assist homeless persons regain stability and reconnect with their families where possible.

The municipal authority is quoted in media reports as having revealed that within the period reviewed, 819 people benefited from the program. 

Some 693 others, Luc Messi is quoted as having indicated, were successfully discharged and reintegrated into society.

The campaign, tagged “Zéro Malade Mental Dans Les Rues de Yaoundé”, roughly translated in English as “Zero tolerance for persons with mental illness on the streets of Yaounde”, the City Mayor said, is carefully designed to free Yaounde streets of persons with mental challenges.

He said the project consists of gathering, transferring, treating, and reuniting those concerned with their families. Thanks to the drive, he is said to have told committee members that most of those attended to, have now returned to living normal lives.

Others, he said, have been able to regain their homes. Their families, he said, have been urged to continue observing them and treating them with love for better recovery.

According to the committee, during the period of January to April 2024, some 165 persons, comprising of 115 men and 50 women, were removed from the streets. The persons are said to have been relocated to the Jamot Hospital in Yaounde, for better healthcare.

Most of the mentally ill persons, it was disclosed at the meeting, came from out of the Centre Region and finally settled on the streets of Yaounde. 

Reports presented also indicated that most of the persons were discovered to be suffering from schizophrenia and behavioral disorders. These, medics say, are linked to the use of hard drugs and other narcotics.

Going by the report, patients diagnosed of schizophrenia were placed in a special treatment unit called “Village de l’amour,” loosely translated in English language as “Love Village”.

The report further disclosed that the Love Village played host to 108 patients, among them 75 men and 33 women. Officials said they were reintegrated into society after treatment.

Despite the successes recorded, officials during the meeting decried limited productivity, care for patients, the absence of a legal framework for patient management and little or no motivation for those who do the work.