HIV Prevention Project Meeting- Assessment / Impact

The 2 –year grant from the World Bank through SACA in Ibadan, Oyo State is ending in December 2015. The project team and the 35 grant recipients met on the 30th June 2015 to examine the reports from all players and analyse the impact so far contributed by the project.

 At the meeting, information capturing tools were upgraded to adequately reflect  the reliability and  viability of data from those obtained from the field and shared among grant recipients.Prior to this meeting, there were assessment visits to some CSOs including Gede to ascertain on-site verification of data, which   was planned to form the basis of discussion with all recipients in future. Data collection remains an integral part of the HAF-2 methodology and overall approach to addressing key issues related to HIV-AIDS awareness among key groups and community leaders.

The project has combined prevention and treatment strategies which involved activities using minimum prevention package intervention (MPPI) as a universally accepted prevention mechanism as well as referral for treatment for those accessing ART. Although people living with HIV-AIDS (who may have mental health challenges) are often seen by facility Doctors for monitoring, relatively little is done to address their common mental disorders such as depression and substance abuse because this is yet to be integrated into their treatment regimes. An introduction of mental health intervention into ART could be a good start, such that a comprehensive care and support be provided to people living with HIV-AIDS who are on treatment.

GEDE and International Day Against Drug Abuse-2015

Every year, June 26 is observed as International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Gede joined other major agencies this year to commemorate this important day by organising A secondary school seminar in Cross River State and participating in Youth Reformation and Awareness Centre (YRAC) Conference in the FCT.
In Cross River, Gede partnered with UNICEM to deliver a school-based event in order to raise awareness on drug abuse and illicit trafficking as well as to address a range of serious consequences that could follow. Students in Akampa and Akpabuyo Local Governtment Areas took time to interact on the topic ‘Drugs, Alcohol and your Health’. Over 150 students participated during the event which ended with an interactive session to find ways to address youth’s involvement on drugs by using information, education and communication materials with positive health messages.

In the FCT, a similar event took place where Gede participated in a seminar organised by YRAC, aimed at seeking ways to get young people to be positively engaged as a foundation for avoiding drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Participants at the event agreed that raising awareness on drug abuse (and sustaining it) in rural communities will allow young people to make informed decisions about their future and will help to reduce the impact of drug on local communities. About 200 participants, mainly young people, registered in various vocational training opportunities during the event and asked to remain engaged with key activities aimed at addressing the scourge of drugs in the local communities.

Organisational Development Training for CSOs-INTRAC 2015

Gede Foundation’s Performance Director for Organisational Development and Support Services, Jeremy Boglosa, attended course on Organisational Development for CSOs organized by INTRAC in Oxford, UK on June 22-26, 2015.

The primary aim of her attendance in the course is to strengthen her capacity in serving as an OD champion and an agent of change for the Foundation as it addresses stigmatized and underserved health burd...ens in Nigeria. The secondary purpose is for her to be able to transfer the knowledge gained from the course to the rest of Gede’s team members to enable the organization apply the OD process in its programs and day to day operations. The course modules were designed specifically for CSOs and Jeremy has brought home theories and practical examples from her interaction with other OD practitioners from international CSOs/NGOs.

Please revisit this section of our website as we share more specific OD topics from the course.

GEDE Promoting Personal and Workplace Hygiene

Today, 6th of July 2015, a very engaging talk on Personal and Workplace Hygiene was organized by Gede Foundation in cooperation with Miyetti Law and Janem Clinic.  This is one of a series of activities organized by Gede Foundation aimed at building  its team members’ capacity in Basic Life and Work Skills to promote learning and innovation at the individual, team and organizational levels.  The topics will start with very basic concepts for the remaining months of 2015 and will evolve into more technical areas of discussion as the process of learning progresses. The topics will depend on the needs of the Foundation and its team members in line with its projects.  Resource persons (internal and external) who are experts in the topic of discussions will be invited to facilitate the monthly talks and discussions. 

The presenter for today’s session is Miss Eliza Charles Adekalu, Miyetti Law’s Client Relation’s Officer and also an independent consultant on personal development. 

GEDE MEETING WITH ALIVE AND KICKING

On Friday, July 3 2015, Gede’s Managing Director, Mr John Minto, met with the CEO of Alive and Kicking (www.aliveandkicking.org), Mr Glenn Cumnmings in London, UK. Alive and Kicking is one of the world’s leading social businesses, with innovative projects in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia which focus on manufacturing footballs which, in addition to providing employment for those who physically make the balls, are also used as a channel to develop important health messages. In essence, Alive and Kicking uses sport to combat the spread of deadly diseases. From the meeting, it is clear that a great deal of common ground exists between Alive and Kicking and Gede, most especially in terms of, (I) using sport to capture and disseminate key messages related to positive mental well being, and, (ii) raising incomes for those who would physically make the footballs. Watch this space for further information as this collaboration develops over time

Gede and Medicine Africa

JULY 2 2015

As regular readers of Gede's blogs will know, the Foundation is working with a number of agencies to assess ways in which the mental health 'treatment gap' (essentially the significant difference in the number of people with mental health conditions and the expertise available (often limited in number) to screen, treat and/or refer) can be addressed. At the time of writing, 'conventional wisdom' tends to adopt an approach which is based on expanding the availability of 'in country' expertise through, for example, task shifting/sharing within non specialist health workers. While both understandable and often realistic, this approach tends to ignore the role in which mental health expertise located within the Nigerian diaspora could potentially play. On Thursday July 2, Gede's Managing Director, Mr John Minto, met with the CEO and Founder of Medicine Africa (wwwmedicineafrica.com), Dr Alexander Finlayson, one of the world's leading NGOs focused on using information and communications technology to address a number of health related skills gap. Gede and Medicine Africa have agreed to work together to identify a number of initiatives which would test the idea that modern telecommunications can be used to address the mental health treatment gap within Nigeria through the additional engagement of the significant number of mental health professionals within the Nigerian diaspora, initially within the UK and EU.

GEDE and Basic Needs

Today in London, Gede’s Managing Director, Mr John Minto, met with the Acting CEO of Basic Needs (www.basicneeds.org), Ms Jess Mcquail, to discuss ways in which their innovative model of mental health care and livelihoods support, could be brought into Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria for the benefit of people living with both mental health conditions and HIV-AIDS. As readers of Gede’s blogs will know, the Foundation is taking a leading role in assessing the prevalence and impact of mental health conditions (such as depression and alcohol abuse) within large samples of people living with HIV-AIDS – and the discussions with Basic Needs take this discussion to the ‘next level’ in terms of developing a community based way in which such conditions (and their impact on livelihood coping mechanisms) can be screened, treated and referred. Basic Needs is a leading global agency whose approach to community based mental health care and support is much favoured by international donors such as Canada Grand Challenges, as well as by the communities and NGOs which they support. Watch this space for further information as Gede’s partnership with Basic Needs develops over time.

Mental Health and Adolescents

It’s no longer news that young people within rural and urban communities are vulnerable to drugs, substance and alcohol abuse. This may be as a result of many factors such as orphan hood, peer pressure, poor parenting, the ease in accessing these substances and idleness. It is of course, very worrisome that people within this population also engage in intravenous drug use - an act which can, in some cases, lead to HIV. An increasing number of academic studies have shown that many mental health problems (depression in particular) emerge in late childhood and early adolescence and is the largest cause of the burden of disease among young people-DALYs). Equally shocking is the fact that suicide is the number one killer among teenagers worldwide and that poor mental health can impact greatly  on the wider health and development of adolescents and has a key role in health ‘outcomes’ such as higher alcohol, tobacco and illicit substances use, adolescent pregnancy, school drop-out and delinquent behaviours. There is growing consensus that healthy development during childhood and adolescence contributes to good mental health and can eventually prevent mental health problems.

Gede is working as a pioneer agency in Ibadan, opening up important dialogues with partner agencies and young people themselves in terms of recognising the important of positive mental health .Watch this space for further news of our ground breaking work in Ibadan.

MENTAL HEALTH DIALOGUE PROGRAMME EXPLORES SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND ADDICTION

On Wednesday June 24th 2015, as part of Gede’s ‘Mental Health Dialogue Programme’, Solape Bamijoko, a Senior Programme Officer with Gede Foundation delivered an insightful presentation on ‘Substance Abuse versus Addiction”

The presentation resulted in a lively exchange of views among those present and focused on an exploration of the causes of substance abuse in an increasingly urbanised Nigeria. Many of the participants reflected on ways in which substance abuse can be tackled at the most appropriate point, including in the home and at school, with a general agreement that although government has a role to play, positive parenting is perhaps the key to a number of pivotal issues. Above all else, however, there were calls to ensure that key stakeholders and personnel are actually able to identify the tell tale signs of abuse and addiction. For further details about Gede’s ‘Mental Health Dialogue Programme’ and to obtain the list of speakers for July 2015 – December 2015, please email Solape Bamijoko (obamijoko@gedefoundation.org)

GEDE FOUNDATION AND KING'S COLLEGE LONDON

TUESDAY JUNE 30 2015

Today, Gede's Managing Director, Mr John Minto, held a meeting with King's College Researcher, Dr Rosie Mayston which focused on discussing ways in which both organisations might work together in future to deepen the work the Foundation currently undertaking vis-a-vis assessing the prevalence of depression, alcohol use and suicidality among a large sample of people living with HIV-AIDS in Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Discussions focused, in particular, on ways in which a natural 'next step' could include an assessment of the impact of (for example) depression coupled with a practical and scaleable way in which screening, treatment and referral can be integrated into the busy working lives of health care workers such as HIV-AIDS Adherence Counsellors. Watch this space as Gede and King's continue this dialogue aimed at blunting the significant impact of common mental disorders on people living with HIV-AIDS in Nigeria and, in time, further afield