BANJUL, 28 March 2017 : Stakeholders representing different interest groups and institutions attended a day’s workshop held on 23 March 2017 to discuss draft zero of the new mental health legislation for the Gambia. This meeting was a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW), which followed months of preparation and mobilization for the engagement of critical stakeholders, including key Government Ministries (Justice, Interior, Health and Education), as well as the civil society groups.

It is worth noting that The Gambia is still using the archaic Lunatics’ Detention Act of 1917 as the main legislative tool for mental health, which does not conform to international human rights standards.  

The new draft legislation is therefore aligned with the WHO checklist for developing a mental health legislation and international human rights instruments to safeguard the human rights of people with mental disability and their families, as well as the care givers.  It is therefore hoped that the fourteen-chaptered document, once finalized and officially endorsed, will not only protect human rights and dignity of the mentally-disabled, but it will serve as a catalyst for revolutionizing mental services in the Gambia.

WHO will continue to provide the requisite technical and financial support to this process right through to the final stages before the bill is enacted by the National Assembly.

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For more information, please contacts : 

Mr. Momodou Gassama, Health Promotion Officer, gassamam [at] who.int (gassamam[at]who[dot]int)—(+220)- 4462286;  Mr. George. Williams, Health Information Assistant,   williamsg [at] who.int (williamsg[at]who[dot]int)—(+220) 4462284