Bolgatanga, Basic Needs Ghana is to provide sustainable livelihoods to stabled Mental Ill and Epilepsy persons in the Upper East Region.

Basic Needs-Ghana is a mental health and development advocacy organisation that implements and promotes initiatives to transform the lives of people with mental illness or epilepsy by providing access to integrated mental health care, social and economic services.

The 45 beneficiaries drawn from the Bolgatanga, Bongo, Nabdam, Talensi, Bawku West Districts among others became stabled through the support of Basic Needs.

They would also be supported by the same NGO to be trained by master artisans in the areas of dressmaking, hairdressing, masonry, carpentry and mechanics.

The Regional Coordinator of Basic Needs Ghana, Mr Bernard Azure, made this known in Bolgatanga, during a training programme organised by his outfit for the master Artisans on how to manage the beneficiaries during the training.

He said his organisation would provide them with equipment for the training process.

Mr Azure said the training which is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund of the United Kingdom is aimed at empowering people with mental illness in Ghana.

“The central aim of the project is to improve the mental health of men, women, boys and girls with mental illness and or epilepsy in Ghana.

“It will directly empower 3,750 men and women with mental illness and or epilepsy and their 2,700 carers in poor rural areas in Northern Ghana to collectively express their needs and self-advocate, through self-help groups to have those needs met,” he said.

He said as part of the package, the project would also support the participation of livelihood activities of 1,000 mental illness and epilepsy and 700 carers who are self-help group members

He said Basic Needs through its partners including Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, National Commission of Civic Education had reached out to 43,312 direct beneficiaries in 349 communities in 80 districts across the Northern, Upper East and Upper West, Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo, Greater Accra Regions.

He indicated that currently Basic Needs Ghana had included Central Region and would also be reaching out to Volta Region soon.

“The purpose of basic Needs Ghana is to enable people with mental illness or epilepsy live in dignity and satisfy their basic needs and exercise their basic rights as well as work successfully in their communities”, he stressed.

Mr Azure mentioned some of the challenges confronting mental health delivery as lack of funding, difficulty in reaching out to all the destitute with mental illness, low budgetary allocation for the mental health sector by Government for service delivery and lukewarm attitudes of some district assemblies to support the cause of mental illness.

Mr Philip Aboagye, Acting Regional Coordinating of Ghana Health Service in charge of Mental Health who lectured the master artisans on the topic “The Roles Master Artisans in handling Stabled Mental Inness and Epilepsy,” expressed the need for them to understand their clients’ conditions and look for signs of fits and relapses.

They should also monitor their clients to take their medication on scheduled and develop cordial relationship with them.