South Africans may soon get antidepressants from a nurse
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Loading... - Jade Kingsley
- 29 Mar 2023
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Nurses may soon be trained to prescribe pills — under the supervision of a doctor — for mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, according to South Africa’s new five-year (2023-28) action plan for HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The South African National Aids Council (Sanac) launched the final plan in Rustenburg on World TB Day on Friday.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla will have to change the Nursing Act regulations to allow nurses to prescribe antidepressants, according to Andy Gray, a senior pharmacology lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Currently, only general practitioners and psychiatrists can prescribe psychiatric medication in South Africa. Nurses can get trained to prescribe some medicines, for instance, antibiotics, but not mental health medication such as antidepressants because these are classified as schedules five and six, which can only be prescribed by doctors, said Gray.
About one in three people in South Africa will experience depression, anxiety or a substance use disorder at least once in their lives, according to the 2009 South African Stress and Health Survey. But three quarters of people will never be treated, a 2009 South African Medical Journal study found.
Depression, anxiety and substance abuse are much more common among people with HIV and TB than those not living with these illnesses, the plan says. Mental health conditions make it harder for people to keep taking their medication, and discrimination by health workers can result in people with mental health problems not asking for the help they need.
Anxiety and depression also increase someone’s risk of contracting HIV or TB because anxious or depressed people often use coping mechanisms, for instance substance abuse, that, in turn make them more vulnerable to contract HIV or TB.
That’s why it needs to be easier for people to get prescriptions for psychiatric medicine, the action plan says. Read More…
