Addis Ababa. 28 February 2014 – Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were signed between the FMOH and six training institutions, namely, Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, and Universities of Mekelle, Jimma, Hawassa, Bahir Dar and Haramaya on 21 February 2014 at a Mental Health Forum held in Addis Ababa. The MoUs have formalized the role of the training institutions in the scale up process.

 At the signing of the MoUs, Dr. Pierre M’pele-Kilebou congratulated the FMOH, Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital and the universities for the formalization of such a strong collaboration with training institutions in the domain of mental health, which is a first in the African Region.

 The Mental Health Forum, bringing together participants from the Ministry of Health, the 11 Regional Health Bureaus, several universities, MSH, I-Tech and WHO, was held at Churchill Hotel.  The Forum discussed the Federal Ministry of Health’s (FMOH) plans for expansion of mental health services into the country’s primary health care (PHC).

 The Forum underlined the relevance of mental health to the Ethiopian context, and clarified the FMOH plan of scaling up the integration of mental health care into PHC, which aims to reach full coverage in a 12-year process. Achievements and lessons learned during the three-year demonstration phase of the Mental Health Action Programme (mhGAP) were shared, followed by details plans for 2014.  According to the 2014 plans, all regions of Ethiopia will be involved, and more than 300 non-specialized health workers will receive training in mental health according to the WHO mhGAP package of intervention.

 WHO, with financial contributions by the European Union, has been supporting the FMOH to successfully implement mhGAP and the mental nursing program taking into account that “There is no Health Without Mental Health.” 

 01 Signing Of MoU Between The Ministry Of Health And Six Training Institutions 02 Signing Of MoU Between The Ministry Of Health And Six Training Institutions 03 Mental Health Forum 04 Mental Health Forum
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For more information, please contact: 

Dr Andrea Bruni brunia [at] who.int (brunia[at]who[dot]int) Tel: +251-915 954 721

or Loza Mesfin tesfayel [at] who.int (tesfayel[at]who[dot]int)  Tel: +251-911 144 194.