Rosalina Mutekedza (38), a single mother from Warren Park 1 in Harare is happy the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided and there is no more need for any restrictions and lockdowns to contain the spread of the diseases.
By Ntokozo Gudu
Above all, she is happy that now she can fend for her three children without any fear of breaking the law. She recalls how the COVID-19 induced lockdowns almost drive her into depression owing to uncertainty they brought.
I was worried. During the first 21 days of the COVID-19, i witnessed my food supplies dwindling and as someone who survives from vending. The thought of seeing my children starving under my watch really got to me,” said Rosalina.
After the first 21 days, government further extended the lockdowns owing to the constant emergence of new COVID-19 variants. For Rosalina, this too meant she had to starve or break the law.
“I had to defy COVID-19 lockdown measures and get back to my daily business of selling vegetables. I clashed with police at times as I had to go back and sell on the market. I couldn’t bear the idea of my children suffering. I had to do something,” Rosalina says.
Rosalina’s case represents that of millions of Zimbabweans who experienced mental challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Takudzwa Muranganwa (49) from Damofalls in Ruwa is self employed as a plumber. However, the COVID-19 crises locked him of business and impacted negatively on his household food security situation.
“People didn’t want visitors or strangers in their homes. This meant I had no jobs and income. I struggled to feed my family and some point i contemplated suicide,” said Takudzwa.
According to a study exploring the association between food insecurity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic that was conducted by Di Fang et.al, food insecurity caused by the pandemic was associated with increased risk of mental illness. The relative risk of mental illness from being food insecure is almost three-fold that of losing a job during the pandemic.
“Public health measures should focus on getting direct subsidies of food purchases to poor families, especially families with children. They should also reduce the stigma and shame that is associated with accepting charitable foods,” suggested the researchers.
To measure and map the vaccine confidence in the world, Dr Hiedi Larson founded the Vaccine Confidence project 13 years ago. In 2015, the Vaccine Confidence Project launched the Vaccine Confidence Index to have a global baseline and they have been measuring globally, regionally and frequently in some countries. In 2021, the Vaccine Confidence Project was awarded the MacArthur Award to look at public confidence and a range of issues in the context of COVID-19 and COVID-19 recovery.
According to findings from their study, Food insecurity was one of the major drivers of mental health disorders in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The issues of mental health were very different globally for instance in our Focus Groups when we asked people, ‘what was your biggest concern during COVID-19?’ The most frequent thing that was said was food security and anxiousness about where they were going to get the net meal and where they were going to get it in the context of COVID-19 lockdown,” said Dr Larson.
The project looked at people’s feelings and their dominant concerns around COVID-19 vaccines and other things. Initially called the Confidence project, the project is now known as the Global Listening Project.
“There was a lot of fear, anxiety and confusion and also it changes over time. We saw in the beginning of the pandemic; fear was a big driver. Then it was a bit more anxiety and not knowing and uncertainty. And then it moved to anger.”
“In fact, I know the current and previous New York City Health commissioners for instance and I was talking to them about their experiences independently. When I talked to the current one, he said the previous commissioner had to deal with the public health fear. When he came on board he had to deal with the public anger. It really was varied.”
World Health Organization (WHO) Zimbabwe mental health expert Dr Debra Machando noted that depression, anxiety and substance use were the most common mental health disorders during the pandemic.
A Zimbabwean psychologist, Dr Kudakwashe Muchena said during the pandemic, a lot of attention was directed towards physical health interventions while neglecting mental health.
“I think what has been happening is that during COVID-19, a lot of attention was towards the physical health which was because of the crisis which was largely on the physical health. Then mental health took a break or mental health was neglected in the process.
“But what we now know is that during that time of COVID-19, a number of mental health issues actually arose. Because of the nature of the lockdown series, it meant that people were now isolated and in closed areas, which created a lot of mental health challenges from depression to anxiety, Gender based violence, etc.
“While at the same time the public health system did not recognize the surge in mental health issues because of COVID-19. They continued on the physical health, which was getting vaccination and treatment and so forth, which was important then, but the mental health aspect suffered a lot,” he said.
A lot of mental health patients failed to access their chronic medication.
“The patients on chronic medication for mental health could not access medication resulting in a lot of them relapsing and so forth.
