FG inaugurates mental health, psycho-social support programme for insurgency victims

The Federal Government says it has inaugurated a Mental Health and Psycho-social Support Programme for victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East.

 

Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of State for Health, said this in Maiduguri on Tuesday, while briefing newsmen on the Health Sector Response of the Federal Government to the activities of insurgents.

According to the minister, the health sector response is part of government’s interventions toward restoring normalcy in the area.

 

Ehanire pointed out that the Health Sector Response was one of the Strategic Interventions of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administrations toward rebuilding the sub region.

 

“Last Monday, I flagged off (inaugurated) the Mental Health and Psycho-social Support component of the intervention.

 

“Mindful of the nature of the insurgency, it is identified as a critical aspect of the health and nutrition emergency response,’’ he said.

Ehanire explained that the object was to provide psycho=social and mental health support to the traumatised people in the area, as well as those who care for them.

 

“It is critical to note that this is the first time that the Mental Health and Psycho-social Support programme will be integrated into the Primary Health Care (PHC) in Nigeria.

 

“This service is being implemented at the Primary Health Care level and service providers are being trained and pooled from those previously trained for deployment,’’ he said.

 

According to Ehanire, some of the service providers will be deployed to PHC facilities.

 

He added that others would reach out to communities and carry out house-to-house visits to identify and respond to community members who required support.

 

“Right now, 120 volunteers are being trained to provide the mental health support, 75 of them are ad hoc staff, while the remaining 45 are from the state service.

 

“To ensure a comprehensive response and stakeholders’ engagement, the military and paramilitary services in the state will also be included in the intervention,’’ he said.