40 patients escape Kenya's psychiatric hospital

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya police say they are searching for 40 mentally ill patients who escaped from the country's only public psychiatric facility.

Samuel Anampiu, the police chief in charge of the area where Mathari Mental Hospital sits, said Monday that about 70 male patients overpowered the guards at the hospital and that about 40 managed to escape.
Anampiu says the escapees had earlier complained that the drugs they were being given are ineffective.
Mental health care in Kenya suffers from a lack of funding. Poverty, a lack of access and the stigma associated with mental disorders prevent many patients from getting good assistance.