Table 1 Context of Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia

Total health expenditure as % of GDP

7.8

8.2

8.4

5.9

Per capita total health expenditure (PPP Int $)

114

843

112

80

% of health budget allocated to Mental health

0.5

2.7

0.7

0.4

Psychiatric nurses per 100,000

2

7.5

2

5

Psychiatrists per 100,000

0.08

1.2

1.6

0.02

Form of health system decentralisation

Centralised implementation, some delegation to regions

Devolution to provinces

Devolution to districts

Deconcentration to regions and district health authorities

Current status of mental health policy: year of adoption and implementation

2000

1997 (draft)

2000 (draft)

2005

Patchy implementation

Inconsistent implementation, on-going revision of policy

Moderate implementation, ongoing revision of policy

Plans recently developed, poor implementation