KIU, Western Campus c��?? The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on governments and all health care facilities to provide mental health and psychosocial support to health workers. 

In their World Health and Safety at Work Day message on April 28th, the WHO said health workers were prone to psychological distress, coming from long working hours and fatigue resulting from the increased demand for health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This follows increasing reports of health workers facing serious mental health challenges, with the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom reporting that half of the UKc��?cs health workers were facing stress due to COVID-19.

On Sunday, 26th April, Dr Lorna Breen, the Medical Director of the Emergency Department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital took her own life after recounting to family members traumatic scenes of COVID-19 patients she had witnessed at the hospital.

Dr Jimmy Ben Forry, a psychiatrist at KIU Teaching Hospital, says the kind of work that health workers do requires them to put the lives of others ahead of their own, because this is what they are called to do.

c��?This tends to have a cumulative effect on their mental health,c⬝ Dr Forry says.

c��?When you add in other factors like the inadequate Personal protection Equipment and fear of infecting the people at home with the virus, it amplifies the problem,c⬝ he adds.

He advises that health workers should find time to relieve stress by praying or spending more time with family, stick to their schedules and do not take over any extra work that may become a burden and seek for help if things are overwhelming them.

The Principal Nursing Officer for KIU Teaching Hospital, Sr Elizabeth Kamahoro said health workers are also human beings who can experience mental stress. She, however, advised that the health workers can look for avenues of ensuring stress relief on their part and offset the psychological distress that comes with their jobs.

A Sunday news report on NTV showed health workers at Entebbe Grade B Hospital playing and singing to gospel music, an activity they said helped them combat the stress associated with their work at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.