NABLUS, May 6, 2010 (WAFA) -About 200 persons from villages South of Nablus (Burin, Madama, Einabus, Urif and Assira) attended Wednesday a symposium on ‘Mental Health and disabilities’ organized by Medecins du Monde France, in collaboration with the Village Council and the General Union of Disabled Palestinians.
The symposium aimed at providing precious information on mental health and disabilities, as part of a wider campaign of MdM-F to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health.
Experts from the civil society conducted lectures that tackled several mental health-related questions lacking of information. Mr. Maher Risheh, Psychologist and expert in rehabilitation, spoke of the mental health of people with disabilities and Mr. Samer Aqrouq, from the special needs care office at An Najah University, gave a speech on the rights of people with special needs.
The audience that was constituted of the local population of the villages, counselors, teachers, as well as of local and international NGO had the chance to interact, debate and dialogue with the experts after the lectures.
During the symposium, many ‘success stories’ were brought up.
MdM-F experience in the West Bank has demonstrated that an important stigma persist on the question of disabled people, and mental health-related diseases. ‘It is noticeable that issues such as psychological problems, disabilities, mental retardation, remains very taboo within the Palestinian Society. Therefore, persons who might need help - either for themselves or their family- rarely dare to consult specialists, because of the stigma that is linked to these issues. Disabled or mentally-ill people are part of the society, and it is part of our goal at Medecins du Monde to break the stigma that surround these matters and provide people with right and clear information on these important questions’, said Salah Daraghmeh, the Nablus Field Coordinator at Medecins du Monde France. ‘ And information is the first step toward reducing the taboos on mental-health-related issues.’
The symposium was the first event of its kind, a community-based activity as part of a wider year-long mental health project. “Psychosocial and Psycho-medical support in Public schools and Primary Health Care Centers of Nablus Governorate” is a project implemented by MDM-F and funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) to improve the access and the quality of local psychosocial and psycho-medical care services in 5 villages of Nablus Governorate, particularly affected by their proximity with the Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.
All over the year, adequate trainings will be provided to the members of the community that are involved in the psychological health: parents, school staffs, local health facilities staff etc.
