International Boy Child Day founded in 2018, focuses on boys and their well-being, their needs to feel happy, healthy, and valued within family and community. This year’s theme is, “Improving boys' mental health”.
Studies in Tanzania show that many adolescents suffer from mental illnesses. For example, a study by the ARISE Network in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) involving six Sub Saharan African countries found that about 30% of secondary students had depressive symptoms and 4% had suicidal behaviors in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam Regions. Also, in a study conducted by AAPH examining various health-related issues among adolescents, including mental health, it was found that 4.3% of the participants had suicidal thoughts and 1.8% had attempted suicide. These findings show that there is a need for more local and specified scientific evidence to advance health improvement for adolescents.
As we aim for better public health, we are to put our efforts on the boy child as well. This neglected population also deserves support for healthy grow in recognizing responsibility and becoming productive members of the community. This will contribute to the wellbeing of our families and our Tanzanian societies at large.
(Data source: ARISE Harnessing Longitudinal data, Nyundo etl DOI: 10.1111/tmi.13336)