Flisher Alan J, Dawes Andrew, Kafaar Zuhayr, Lund Crick, Sorsdahl Katherine, Myers Bronwyn, Thom Rita, Seedat Soraya
a Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adolescent Health Research Institute , University of Cape Town , South Africa.
J Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2012 Oct;24(2):149-61. doi: 10.2989/17280583.2012.735505.
Mental health problems in childhood and adolescence pose a major threat to public health. Epidemiological studies in high, middle and low income countries indicate that approximately one in five children and adolescents suffer from a mental disorder. In many instances these persist into adulthood. In South Africa, HIV infection, substance use, and exposure to violence increase vulnerability to mental disorders. Child and adolescent mental health services play a key role in reducing the burden of mental disorders in childhood and later in adulthood. This paper focuses on service needs for children and adolescents in South Africa. It commences with a discussion of the prevalence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders after which the legal and policy context of child and adolescent psychiatric services is described. A framework for child and adolescent mental health service provision is presented, following which steps for reducing the extent of unmet service need are considered. The paper concludes with a call to scale up child and adolescent mental health services in South Africa, based on the stark realities of unmet need and the constitutional rights of children and adolescents to appropriate mental health care.
儿童和青少年的心理健康问题对公众健康构成重大威胁。高、中、低收入国家的流行病学研究表明，约五分之一的儿童和青少年患有精神障碍。在许多情况下，这些问题会持续到成年期。在南非，艾滋病毒感染、药物使用和接触暴力会增加患精神障碍的易感性。儿童和青少年心理健康服务在减轻儿童期及成年后期精神障碍负担方面发挥着关键作用。本文重点关注南非儿童和青少年的服务需求。文章首先讨论了儿童和青少年精神疾病的患病率，之后描述了儿童和青少年精神科服务的法律和政策背景。提出了儿童和青少年心理健康服务提供框架，随后考虑了减少未满足服务需求程度的步骤。鉴于未满足需求的严峻现实以及儿童和青少年获得适当心理健康护理的宪法权利，本文最后呼吁扩大南非儿童和青少年心理健康服务的规模。
