Bolgatanga, August 4, GNA - The Programme for Rural Integrated Development(PRIDE), a Non-Governmental Organization operating in the Upper East and Northern Regions, at the weekend presented 31 sewing machines and fitting kits to stabilized mentally-ill and epileptic patients in the Upper East Region, to enable them to have vocational training.

The cost of the items including expenses paid for their training came up to a total of about 8,850 Ghana Cedis. The 31 beneficiaries were drawn from Bongo, Bolgatanga, and the Talensi-Nabdam Districts, and would be undertaking a three-month training programme in dressmaking, hairdressing, carpentry and mechanics.

The Programme Coordinator of PRIDE in charge of Upper East Region, Mr. Richard Adongo, said his outfit focused on mental health, reproductive health, food security, local governance, and care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, among others. He explained that the PRIDE Mental Health Programme was an essential intervention that focuses on poor people who were mentally ill and their families to help address their socio-economic needs. It has registered 784 mentally ill people including epileptics from 26 communities in the region.

He indicated that beneficiaries had been constituted into 26 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) that were registered with the Department of Community Development in the three operational Districts, and had been trained in group dynamics, micro-credit management, and advocacy. They had also been assisted to access psychiatric treatment in the various health centres in the Districts.

Mr. Adongo commended Basic Needs, an NGO, for providing financial and logistical support for the project, and also thanked the Regional Alliance for Mental Health and Development, Department of Community Development, and the District Assemblies for their support and collaboration in the implementation of mental health activities in the Region. Mr. Dokurugu Adam Yahaya, Community Projects Coordinator of Basic Needs, expressed concern about the lack of psychiatric doctors in the country, especially in the Northern parts of the country, and stressed the need for Government to pay serious attention to mental health issues by assisting mentally affected people since they also formed part of the society.

He noted that when well managed and given treatment, the mentally ill could contribute significantly to national development, adding that his outfit had been able to treat people who were mentally ill and who were now performing well in their respective work places. Mr Yahaya said Basic Needs would continue to support mental patients, and appealed to other stakeholders including the Government and local communities to assist. 04 Aug 09