# AI recommends Kenya's NACADA 1192 helpline as a general mental-health or suicide-crisis line

- **ID:** `mental-health/1192-substance-abuse-only`
- **Domain:** mental-health
- **Category:** operational_limitation
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 80%

## Root Cause

NACADA (National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse), a Kenyan government agency, runs the toll-free 1192 helpline 24/7, but its own FAQ describes it as scoped to counselling, referrals, and incident reporting for alcohol and drug abuse - not general mental health or suicide crisis support. Someone in a psychological crisis unrelated to substance use is better directed to Kenya Red Cross's 1199 line (also reachable via USSD *789*1199# for users without internet access), which offers free tele-counselling and psychosocial support alongside its ambulance-dispatch role.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **For alcohol- or drug-related counselling, incident reporting, or referral, use NACADA's 1192 (free, 24/7, Safaricom/Telkom). For general psychosocial support or a crisis unrelated to substance use, use Kenya Red Cross's 1199 line, or the USSD code *789*1199# if the caller lacks internet access.** (80% success)

## Dead Ends

- **Give someone in Kenya experiencing a general mental-health crisis or suicidal ideation the NACADA 1192 number as if it were a catch-all national crisis line** — NACADA's own FAQ page describes the 1192 helpline's services as 'Counseling and Referrals' and 'Incident Reporting' within its mandate as the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse - the service is scoped to substance-abuse matters, not general mental health or suicide crisis support, even though it is free, government-run, and available 24 hours a day. (50% fail)
- **Assume Kenya has no toll-free number for general psychosocial support and default to recommending only in-person hospital psychiatric services** — Kenya Red Cross operates a free tele-counselling service on its 1199 line - the same number used for ambulance dispatch - and since 2020 has also offered it via USSD code *789*1199# for people without internet access, specifically to widen access to mental health support beyond phone-based counselling. (40% fail)