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It should be possible to develop a programme to assist the veterans with their psychological distress. There is
considerable evidence to suggest the value of low-cost, paraprofessionally-delivered treatment approaches, and this
could be done using the resources of the ZNLWVA itself. This would require the training of nurse-therapists, supervised
and supported by a mental health professional. This basic team could then train other suitable members from amongst
the veterans themselves, and provide ongoing support, supervision, and a referral chain for these counsellors. The
mental health professional could then provide overall supervision, further training and ensuring that the training is
adequate, and operating as the consultant of last resort.
There is a decided need to sensitise health workers to the health consequences of organised violence and torture. It is
apparent from other settings that there is, in general, a low awareness of the prevalence of psychological disorders, and
disorders due to violence remain equally undetected. A series of provincial workshops could have the effect of raising
the profile of survivors of organised violence with health workers.
As regards compensation itself, the Act is silent in most respects on the scale of award that may be given for
psychological disorder due to trauma. There is a pressing need for the relevant authority to determine a scale of
damages for psychological disorder, and it is important here to bear in mind that many of these veterans have been
suffering for more than two decades from incapacitating and distressing symptoms. A thorough review of the War
Victims Compensation Act would seem worthwhile, especially since it was introduced to meet a pressing need, and was
designed before much of the current knowledge about trauma and its consequences was obtained.
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