FG Flags Off Mental Health And Psycho-Social Support In Borno
The state minister for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has flagged off mental Health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) in Maiduguri with aim of providing psycho-social and mental health support to the traumatized Boko Haram victims in the Borno state.
Dr. Ehanire stated this in a press briefing at the Conference Hall of the Eye Hospital Maiduguri pointing out that these services are being implemented at the primary health levels and service providers are being trained and pooled from those previously trained for deployment.
He said “for the purpose of health and nutrition Emergency Response plan for Borno, we have recruited and commissioned ad-hoc staff to provide health services in the state.
" A total of 325 ad-hoc staff have been recruited and deployed, these includes doctors, nurses, midwives, community health extension workers, medical laboratory scientists and technicians, medical record staff and Nutritionists.”he explained.
The minister said this plan will be funded by the Federal Government through the Federal ministry of health, adding that the Federal government has approved the sum of N4.3 billion for the purpose of executing the project in the North-east and Borno state which is the epicenter of the boko haram crisis.
He said the federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Maiduguri will provide professional support and serve as a referral and admission facility, adding that right now 120 volunteers are being trained to provide mental health and psycho-social support, 75 from the ad-hoc staff and the remaining 45 from the state data bank of qualified candidates.
"We are not unmindful of needs of other states in the North-east but as Borno state is the epicenter of this crisis, actions starts here.
" We are working with the Presidential Committee on North-east Initiative (PCNI) to validate the state specific operational plans for the six states in the North east, the development of which was facilitated by the Federal ministry of health and partners with USAID, VSF and PCNI. This is going to be use as an advocacy tools for all states in the North-east, as well as to ensure efficient and effective coordination, ” he stated.
He said the Federal Government is ready to partner with the Borno state government in order to provide health care services to the traumatized people of the state and urged the government to continue with registration of all IDPs to facilitate the adequate provision of health services.