The African Population and
Health Research Center (APHRC), in partnership with Wellcome, is set to unveil
a new initiative next year that aims to address existing gaps in our
understanding of anxiety, depression and psychosis and improve evidence-based
decisions making practice in Africa.
The Mental Health Data Prize –
Africa is embarking on a transformative journey, harnessing existing data and
data-driven insights to ignite innovation and reshape the mental health
landscape through research that solves challenges while enhancing the
continent’s data capabilities. Under the initiative, multidisciplinary teams
will be set up to generate scalable innovations and data driven insights that
can contribute to our understanding of anxiety, depression and psychosis in
Africa. The Wellcome-funded prize is the first of its kind and is open to
innovators, researchers and startups, whose initiatives will be competing for
up to 5-10 awards, each valued at £200,000 that come with funding over 12
months.
As part of this initiative
interested individuals can sign up for a free capacity building program over
five months. This is meant to help them unlock the full potential of data
science, advanced statistical analysis and machine learning algorithms tailored
for mental health applications in the continent. APHRC will assist in forming
multidisciplinary teams, match-making individuals, and providing access to
identified data sources.
Speaking on the initiative, Executive
Director at APHRC, Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, said: “The prize is a clarion call
to the entire mental health fraternity across Africa to unite in the fight
against anxiety, depression and psychosis, which are the most prevalent
disorders in the region and globally. This prize exists to drive excellence and
innovation in harnessing data to solve some of our biggest mental health
challenges by bringing together the best minds in mental health research and
data analytics from across the continent.”
Dr Kyobutungi noted that
significant gaps exist in data on mental health in Africa, limiting the
understanding of the scale of the challenge as well as available evidence to
inform interventions against anxiety, depression and psychosis, challenges that
the prize seeks to address.
The Data Prize Manager at
Wellcome, Ekin Bolukbasi, said: “This ground-breaking prize demonstrates our
commitment to help create a world where no one is held back by mental health
problems. It aims to advance mental health science by transforming its ability
to address existing challenges in continent through prevention, management and
treatment. Together, we have the opportunity to improve understanding of the
trajectory and resolution of common mental disorders for a better and more
resilient future for all.”
The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that 116 million people in Africa were living with a mental condition
before the COVID-19 pandemic. The high prevalence of mental health conditions
has been driven by challenges of daily living, widespread conflict, public
health emergencies and other factors. This has taken a heavy toll on the lives
of people, disrupting their ability to function and thrive and leading to lost
productivity, great suffering and emotional pain for individuals, their
families and communities.
However, access to quality
mental health care in the continent is limited, primarily attributed to
inadequate investment in prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services.
Comprehensive, up-to-date data can help provide insights into anxiety,
depression and psychosis, assess access to mental health services, and identify
effective interventions. This serves as the foundation of targeted strategies
to address existing challenges in mental health in Africa.
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