Catherine E. Draper, Crick Lund, Sharon Kleintjes, Michelle Funk, Maye Omar, Alan J. Flisher, The MHaPP Research Programme Consortium. Mental health policy in South Africa: Development process and content. Health Policy and Planning, 2009; 24, 342-356.

摘要

South Africa's first post-apartheid mental health policy was approved in 1997. This policy took the form of a document titled 'National health policy guidelines for improved mental health in South Africa' (Department of Health 1997a).The stages of general health policy development form an important context for policy processes related specifically to mental health. A senior health policy maker in the Department of Health outlined the current process for health policy development followed in the Department. It is evident that not all of the steps now recommended for development of mental health policy by WHO (World Health Organization 2005) were adhered to in the development of the 1997 policy guidelines. Respondents currently employed in the national Department of Health were of the opinion that the 1997 mental health policy guidelines document did not constitute formal policy as it did not follow more recently adopted policy development protocols and was not published for dissemination.