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Health CS Aden Duale addresses the media on Kenya’s Ebola preparedness at Afya House, Nairobi, May 21, 2026. [David Gichuru, Standard]
I hope you have returned safely from Geneva, where you attended the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA79), and where mental health was elevated to a standalone agenda item signaling its recognition as a core pillar of global health rather than a peripheral concern.
I write to you at a timely moment, as May is Mental Health Awareness Month, which draws attention to the role mental health plays in human well-being, dignity, and national development.
If I were to begin this conversation differently, I would not start in Geneva or with global policy language. I would start with music. I would play you Siko Fiti by Matata, which reflects the quiet reality of many young Kenyans who continue functioning while struggling internally. I would then play Beshte Yangu by King Kaka, which shows how friendship and informal support networks often become the first response in the absence of accessible formal care.
