Strengthening mental health in Horn of Africa (IGAD region) and Somalia (MH Care-Somalia).

Globally mental, neurological and substance use disorders (MNS) affect 10%, but jumps to 22% in conflict settings while 75% of persons with MNS in conflict settings such as Horn of Africa region lack access to mental health care. The region has faced decades of conflict and climactic shocks that eroded resilience and coping mechanisms. While the mental health services including its workforce are almost non-existent, it is unlikely the region will be able to train sufficient mental health specialists. That is why we propose developing of regional mental health strategy and enhance capacity through task-sharing using WHO Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) to train frontline workers. mhGAP is designed to support non-specialist to provide MNS services for conflict-affected communities
The research and KT activities include; regional stakeholder engagement, contextualized training materials, trainers of trainees to ensure local capacity and website/social media presence
The anticipated outcomes and; increased access to services, improved awareness and enhanced workers capacity
Potential impacts. The project aims to strengthen mental health through policy and capacity building with potential to cascade across the region