By: Mellish Gbor/Nimba D-9 TV Regional Coordinator/nimbad9tv2018@gmail.com
Colony Hotel, Monrovia Liberia: – Epilepsy constitutes a group of disorders that cause seizures and reflect abnormally high levels of electrical activity in the brain.
Known causes of epilepsy include genetic mutations, head trauma, brain tumor, encephalitis, infectious disease, stroke, and abnormal neural development.
Edmund C. Gbarwee, is a Public Health Practitioner, Founder/Chief Executive Officer of The One Nimba House Media Inc (Nimba D-9-9 TV) and Lead Campaigner of a Community Mental Health Initiative under the theme: ‘’THERE IS STILL HOPE”.
The Non-for-profit was launched at Boyee Clinic Yarwin Mehnsonnoh Health District in Nimba County to help minimize epilepsy.
In August 2022 the group received a donation from the Ministry of Health’s Mental Health Neurological and Substance Use Disorder Unit in the tone of 1,000 Carbamazepine 200mg tablets.
At another donation on Thursday July 13,2023, Madame Angie Tarr-Nyakoon, Director of Mental Health, Neurological, and substance use disorder praised the team of volunteers for being courageous in pushing the health needs of others.
“We are very happy and excited about your Community Mental Health Initiative and for you as citizens to take on this task all by yourselves is indeed touching and we are willing to work with you all and to also seek for way to keep this initiative sustain in helping to minimize epilepsy not only in Nimba but Liberia.
MSF our partner as you know last year provided 1,000 tablets but based on your courage, MSF as partner to the Ministry of Health through our department is pleased to donate 3,000 tablets for our citizens who are challenged with this condition in Yarwin Mehnsonnoh Health District mainly those who are seeking medication at Boyee Clinic.
We are grateful that you are here knocking the doors for this initiative, and we are willing to working with you” she said.
Meanwhile, Pharmacist Joseph Saye Quoi thanked Mr. Gbarwee and his team saying, they are not armed with the authority to serve the medication but because they are now the lead campaigners in this fight in that region, they must be able to work with the Clinicians at Boyee Clinic and with the County Health Team Mental Health Department of Nimba County.
“It is a good thing for you as a Public Health Practitioner including your team of volunteers to get involve with this community mental health initiative like the Director said, we are ready to work with you and your team”.
Meanwhile, the District Health Officer and Clinical Supervisor including the Mental Health Department at Nimba County Health Team are very excited that a group of Public Health Volunteers can join this fight as way of helping to minimize it.
Receiving the donation for and on behalf of “Help Minimize Epilepsy” campaigners, Chairperson Miss Antonette Johnson thanked Director Angie Tarr-Nyakoon, Pharmacist Joseph Saye Quoi, The Ministry of Health and MSF for recognizing this selfless Community Mental Health Initiative.
“Last year our Lead Campaigner Edmund C. Gbarwee designed and organized this initiative and as Chairperson I like to say thanks to everyone who showed up last year in support of this fight in giving hope to some of our hopeless families and friends who are more often rejected because of this situation”.
“The District Representative Hon. Johnson N. Gwaikolo, The District Health Team, our wonderful volunteers here in Liberia and outside of Liberia were just so much more to this”.
“Again, as The Ministry of Health has kick-started the Phase-II of this Community Mental Health Initiative, we are calling on all well-meaning Liberians near and far, partners in this fight, including just everyone to join us in helping to minimize this condition.
We were able to attend in 2022 to over 150 patients though it is estimated that over 300 plus people across Yarwin Mehnsonnoh Health District Nimba County Liberia are faced with this condition with women being the most”.
“Our team will be departing Monrovia for Boyee Clinic, Kwendin, Zahnzayee and Zekepa Health Center respectively in providing awareness, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ follow by the supply of medication which will be done by Clinicians at the various health posts and full tracking of those affected with the disease”.
For his part, Edmund C. Gbarwee thanked Pharmacist Joseph Saye Quoi who saw their efforts and created a channel for those who are challenged with this condition and has no means to advocate for themselves.
Said Gbarwee “though the path to this has a lot of challenges but we will count on the success strioes that those who were attended to last year, about 15% of them have not experience seizures and some of them are now selling in the markets and attending to their families’ activities. We are grateful and praying for more of these success stories.
If you were around then, our Cousin Nyan Enoch Gbarwee couldn’t have gone too soon to rest with the Lord as people taught, he was a witch growing up and visiting home”. These donations and all other donations to come will be used for their intended purposes as our hard-working Chairperson has already said all.
The only message to my families and friends with this condition is ‘’THERE IS STILL HOPE” and Mental Health is not Disability, let’s work together in taking our health’s into our own hands.
The team is heading out there and let’s join hands to serve as our activities are purely non-political because health and politics can’t easily work together though we will always need legislation of key instruments which we will need a political will, but we are purely Community Mental Health Volunteers knocking doors for our sisters and brothers.
We are calling on the government and partners to investigate this issue through research” he concluded
