NOCK and Chiromo Hospital Group launch campaign to tackle mental health among Olympic athletes

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has partnered with Chiromo Hospital Group (CHG) to launch the ‘Tufunguke Wanaspoti’ Olympic Campaign, 60 days to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The campaign will see the Level 5 extend its promotive, preventive, and curative mental health services to Kenyan sportsmen and women ahead of the games.

The program will see sportspersons and athletes trained on how to identify, control, and manage mental health-related matters.

They will also build awareness by way of structured mental health talks and digitized self mental health wellness assessments.

The move has been necessitated by the fact that as Olympic qualifiers end on 30th June, some athletes are trying to get to the final qualifying events, while for others it is preparations in high gear, and for most athletes, it is the end of the road for them after 4 years of preparation.

“The athletes need psycho-social support now more than ever; the pressure of performance at the highest level, being dropped from a team, missing qualification-Kenya will send only about 100 athletes out of the thousands who participate. Internationally, only 10,500 athletes will be at the Olympics, of the millions who participate. All these are on top of the normal occurrences of life. Athletes are first human beings before they are athletes,” said Francis Mutuku, NOCK Secretary General.

“Athletes are the center of our operations, and this is why we have the champion, Humphrey Kayange, together with the Athletes Commission, full-time looking after the welfare of athletes beyond performance,” he added.

On his part, Chiromo Hospital Group CEO, Dr. Vincent Hongo, said, “We must walk with the athletes who are selected to represent the flag in the Paris Olympics, the athletes who have fallen off from these 100 athletes, CHG will walk with you. Chiromo has given a toll-free number where the athletes can call to get the necessary support, The Number is 08000220000.”

The athletes Representative Humphrey Kayange lauded the move as timely, adding that the life cycle of an athlete will continue after the Olympic Games, and that they need support on mental health and psychosocial.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024.