Mental Health Awareness Session With OVC in Kabussa Community, Abuja

On September 3, 2014, the Gede team visited Kabussa Community (15 kilometers from Abuja City) to meet with the beneficiaries of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Programme that was started in 2011 in partnership with Addax & Oryx Foundation. Gede Foundation shared information on the significant role of mental health in coping with the challenges of orphanhood.

Twenty nine (29) orphans out of the total 405 beneficiaries  shared their experiences on stigma and depression as a result of losing their parents to AIDS and other causes. Some of them have become heads of their households and are being trained for income-generating skills; others are enrolled in regular secondary school.

AIDS orphans are more likely to suffer emotional stress, depression, and stigma from circumstances surrounding their parents’ death. Gede Foundation strives to build their ability to live productive lives through education , counseling, and learning of life skills. More sessions on mental health will be held in other project-supported communities.

For more information on the OVC Programme, contact Godwin Etim (godwin@gedefoundation.org)

Mental Health Coalition Nigeria

On May 22, 2014, twelve civil society organizations met to discuss the “Implications of the National Policy on Mental Health Services Delivery” and the role of CSOs in promoting its implementation. A second meeting was held on the 19th August 2014 to discuss the next steps in addressing mental health issues in Nigeria.

The group agreed to form a coalition that will advocate for accessible and quality treatment services, reduce stigma through awareness and education, conduct research, and push for policy implementation. Representatives from Civil Society Organizations attended and participated in the deliberations and set criteria for membership.

The coalition, now known as “Mental Health Coalition Nigeria”, calls on all groups and professional associations interested in promoting mental health, addressing mental health issues, and advocating for the rights of people with mental health problems to join the coalition.

Please contact Godwin Etim of Gede Foundation (godwin@gedefoundation.org) for more information.

International Youth Day Commemoration held at May Gray Hotels Ltd Nyanya, Abuja on 12th August, 2014

August 12 is International Youth Day. It is celebrated every year by youth groups around the world with activities that showcase their positive contribution to their communities. Gede Foundation participated in this year’s theme, “Youth and Mental Health”, by joining Activista Nigeria (ActionAid Nigeria) and Parents Against Drug Abuse (PADA) in an interactive session to discuss Activista Nigeria’s campaign against discrimination/stigmatization of youth living with mental health issues. Youth recovering from substance abuse disorders shared their experiences on their dependence on prohibited drugs, how they were able to overcome it, and how they are able to live productive lives now.

Participants agreed to raise awareness on the importance of mental health in their communities and establish a peer support network to assist those in need.

Get involved in raising awareness about mental health!! Contact Ekaette Udoekong at eudoekong@gedefoundation.org

Interactive Session with Herbal Medical Practitioners on Mental Health

“Activities and services of the Herbal Medical Practitioners in Nigeria are not recognized and given attention by government in terms of credibility, even though we treat various illnesses including mental health problems ”Dr. Obalola Aremu, President Herbal Mental Practitioners – FCT Chapter. Stakeholders such as PPFN, ActionAid Nigeria, NINERERA+, Ummah Support Initiative, NEPHWAN, MSA, CACA, Defense Medical Center, TB Network, and Herbal Medical Practitioners assembled on 24th July, 2014  at Gede Foundation to participate in a discussion on the perspective of the Herbal Medical Practitioners on mental health service delivery. This was our first in the series of dialogues and was an informative and interactive session. The Herbal Medical Practitioners shared their perceptions, practices and challenges. Key in their service delivery of mental health is the fact that clients with mental health problems were no longer subjected to mishandling (such as chaining and beating especially violent clients) as used to be the practice. Issues identified as challenges in the Herbal Medical Practitioners’ practice were no standard guideline of practice, non-uniformity in service delivery especially in area of treatment, stigmatization of persons practicing herbal medicine and poorly organized structure of this group of providers. These issues were seen to affect their deliveries in mental health and other health burdens. Some of the feedback from participants on these challenges were, understanding what the National Policy on Mental Health Service Delivery in Nigeria recommends for Herbal Medicine Practitioners to have a systematic structure, establish linkage with other stakeholders for training on best practice and having a more harmonized methods of delivering their services. The meeting allowed participants to have an idea of practice of the Herbal Medical Practitioners. For more information mail Ekaette Udoekong on eudoekong@gedefoundation.org

Preliminary meeting with NEPWHAN on survey report

Data from the ongoing survey on  base lining Mental Health knowledge among 100 Adherence Counselors in the FCT has reached the preliminary stage of analysis. This information was shared on the 5 August 2014 to Gede’s project partners from  NEPWHAN  by Cynthia Ticao-PhD from Gede Foundation, who is principally the research lead.

She explained the various stages and progress so far achieved in the survey to the team and gave initial findings from the exercise including younger respondents carrying  more stigma than older ones, two- third  of the respondents have been approached for mental health services by people living with HIV-AIDS and  members tend to seek mental health support from support groups

The report, when finalized will show the gaps in their knowledge about mental health which, when filled, will support more comprehensive treatment and care regimes

Gede and Nigeria’s Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM)

The links between HIV-AIDS and Mental Health continued to gain wider exposure as Gede Foundation visited Nigeria’s CCM on the 6th August 2014 to share the impact of anxiety, depression and substance (mainly alcohol) abuse on treatment and care for HIV-AIDS. The Foundation explained to CCM its current survey on baselining Mental Health knowledge among HIV Adherence Counsellors in the FCT with a view to supporting HIV treatment programs (ART) in various locations where Adherence Counselors are serving clients.

A team from CCM led by the Executive Secretary acknowledged this links and within its capacity agreed to the fact that a comprehensive HIV treatment therapy requires complimentary Mental Health intervention efforts among people on ART. This will not only enhance adherence to therapy but could also reduce the cost of treatment.

This initiative generated much needed interest as Gede Foundation is being invited by CCM to be more involved with its activities through regular meetings, and pushing through the identified gap at the National level

Binatu Success Story

Binatu, a 20 year old lady, who has just finished her Senior Secondary School Examination,stays in Mpape (a suburb of Abuja, Nigeria) with her brothers. Her education seems to have come to a halt as her indigent parents, according to her, have no means of sending her to school for further education. As if this was not enough, the family’s poor socio-economic status makes it difficult to afford a decent meal. She came in contact when she was selected using the Gede Foundation guidelines for Skill Acquisition Programme for OVCs and enrolled.Gede Foundation and was selected for training in the skill acquisition empowerment program. She is presently undergoing training in one of the skill acquisition centres to become a computer operator. She is grateful that on the long run she would be useful both to herself and her family. For more information about the OVC programme, contact Mr Godwin Etim – godwin@gedefoundation.org

Mental Health and HIV-AIDS

During the course of my meetings with leading mental health agencies and institutions in the UK in the past couple of weeks, I have been struck at how encouraging and supportive they have been for Gede to become even further engaged in helping the stigmatized of the stigmatized – that is, people living positively who are also suffering from a range of mental health conditions. There is an increasing focus on the symbiotic relationship between mental health and HIV-AIDS, but very little research into, for example, the prevalence (within people living positively) of a range of conditions such as depression, anxiety disorders, substance (including alcohol) abuse, as well as the screening for the early stages of dementia. I cannot imagine a more difficult situation for any individual and/or family to face than one which sees the suffering which comes from living positively coupled with the onset of dementia. What happens to HIV treatment and care regimes when people suffer from mental health conditions? What happens to mental health conditions when people are told they are living positively? These are the people Gede seeks to serve and support – and, through our work, make sure that their voices are heard in the places where resources in particular are decided upon –jminto@gedefoundation.org

Meeting at the Royal College of Psychiatry on July 15 2014

During the course of my meeting with Dr Peter Hughes, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Royal College of Psychiatrists (www.rcpsych.ac.uk), I was again struck by the increasing focus of many professional organizations to ensure that mental health appears on the ‘map’ of mainstream development agencies. At the moment, although mental illness accounts for a significant % (depending which source is consulted) of the global health burden, it has yet to gain recognition at, for example, the MDG level. This is strikingly strange to many given that almost all other MDGs are reliant on strong mental wellbeing. The Royal College is one of the world’s leading organizations focusing attention on task shifting to ensure that mental health treatment and care services are available at community base primary health care centres (not just through expertise sourced in mainly urban hospital settings) thus playing a key role in the mhGAP initiative in this regard. This involves a significant amount of task shifting and training and clearly opens up opportunities for a number of agencies to collaborate with Gede in areas such as base lining a range of mental health conditions coupled with partnerships to ensure that ‘results’ are addressed with appropriate treatment and care regimes– jminto@gedefoundation.org

Meeting at the Centre for Global Mental Health, London on July 16 2014

At King’s College London (which houses the Centre), I had the privilege of meeting one of the leading figures in the world of global mental health – Professor Graham Thornicroft, Professor of Community Psychiatry, lead researcher with a number of innovative mental health projects (such as EMERALD and COBALT) around the world, and author of cutting edge research articles and, most recently, of the critically acclaimed book, ‘Shunned’. The meeting gave me the opportunity to discuss Gede’s mental health work with Professor Thornicroft who stated clearly that there is an absolute dearth of quality research into comorbid conditions and that (for example) supporting HIV-AIDS Adherence Counsellors to identify, treat (where possible) and refer a range of mental health conditions would not only enhance ART treatment rates, but would also support the treatment of mental health conditions. Professor Thornicroft also voiced his support for the greater coordination of mental health agencies, with the proviso related to the importance of engaging all agencies which are affected by mental health issues, such as prisons, schools and universities. The meeting with Professor Thornicroft ended with his observation that he remained optimistic that mental health would be given an enhanced profile within MDGs following their review in 2015 – a development which everyone involved in all aspects of health must surely fully support –  jminto@gedefoundation.org