By DisabilityNewsGH
The Development Director for the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth Development Office in Ghana, Madam Beth Cadman has paid a visit to BasicNeeds-Ghana, a mental health disability advocacy organisation.
The visit which took place on June 28, 2022, was to interact with partners, collaborators, volunteers, and project beneficiaries of the organisation.
The parties had discussions on how to reduce stigma and discrimination in mental health, disability inclusion, human rights, and the role of volunteers in supporting people with psychosocial needs, among others.
The UKaid has been a long-time champion of mental health in Ghana and has supported the work of BasicNeeds-Ghana since 2013.
One of the project beneficiaries, Alhassan Katumi thanked UKaid for their support which has been extended to her and her colleagues who are in Self-Help -Groups through BasicNeeds-Ghana.
She said “If you had seen me in the early days of my illness, you would not believe that I am the one seated here today. I joined the Tamale self-help group where I had access to medications and other treatment services and today I have very well recovered”.
Madam Beth Cadman said, “for the mental health services users, there is a point in life that one needs to ask for help and the bravest thing they have done was to recognise their illness and pass through the system to get the needed assistance to gain recovery”.
BasicNeeds-Ghana was set up some 20 years ago with the vision of ensuring that people with mental illness or epilepsy live in dignity and satisfy their basic needs and exercise their basic rights.
The organisation has contributed greatly to improving the lives of over 100,000 people with mental illness and their families in Ghana through awareness creation on mental health, aimed at stigma reduction and improved knowledge on mental illness, capacity building for various stakeholders on mental health issues, access to treatment services, sustained and secured livelihood for people with mental illness, influencing policy for inclusiveness and prioritization, as well as empowering people with mental illness through self-help- groups for self-advocacy at district and national levels.
SOURCE: DisabilityNewsGH.com