By Linos Muvhu | Chief Talent Leader
2023 was a very exciting year for the Society for Pre and Post Natal Services (SPANS). Our mental health literacy program during the routine antenatal and post-natal care reached 2000 families and our training program successfully graduate 26 students completed their Level 5 Diploma in Systemic Family Therapy and Development Counseling in Maternal, Paternal and Child MH (TM5D/W) and managed to trainee 300 family therapists. A total of 90 students were also attached to different central hospitals, city health and primary health care clinics across the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. Level 5 Diploma in Systemic Family Therapy and Development Counseling in Maternal, Paternal and Child MH (TM5D/W) is a first of its kind in this country and takes great strides from the Zimbabwe newly adopted new curriculum model of Education 5.O which focuses on 5 key aspects, namely teaching, research, community service, innovation and industrialization. This course, I believe is the key to the pillars which feeds into national policies such as our Zimbabwe National Health Strategy, National Development (ND1) and Vision 2O23. At the same time, According to the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health (2020), “Zimbabwe has a severe shortage of human resources for mental health, with an estimated 18 psychiatrists (17 of them in Harare) or approximately 0.1 per 100000 people. There are 917 psychiatric nurses (6.5 per 100000) and 6 clinical psychologists (0.4 per 100000) and nearly everywhere in the world. This course comes at the right time to address this. Without change, by 2030, mental health problems will be the cause of death for more people than cancer, diabetes and respiratory conditions combined. Secondly this course is a strong move from the traditional theory based type of education and gives precedence to founding of new knowledge, innovation through practical and research. It thus seeks to equip students with the skills and knowledge to solve real life problems and contribute to the development of the nation.
As we start the year, we reflect on our key priorities:
As we look ahead for another very promising year with SPANS, we are pleased to see the continued commitment from our line Ministry the Ministry of Health and Child Care which provides support and guidance for our training and projects continued expansion.
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