Togo

Lomé

PARTNER

AKT

Togo is one of the smallest and poorest countries in Africa. It ranked 162 of 188 countries in the 2015 Human Development Index. Mental health in Togo is sorely neglected by health authorities and the population’s attitude towards mental illness remains rooted in traditional beliefs and superstition. As a result, people suffering from mental illness receive inadequate or even harmful care and suffer from stigma.

The project is designed to improve mental health care in Togo, to train mental health staff and to develop an awareness campaign to eradicate stigma and traditional beliefs associated with mental illnesses. It provides management support for the Paul Louis-Renée Center in Lomé. The center is run by the Institut des Sœurs Hospitalières de Notre Dame de Compassion (ISHNDC), which AKT supports. The center offers psychiatric patients holistic treatment that helps reduce stigma. The clinic has a general consulting room, two psychiatric consulting rooms, four intensive care rooms, a laboratory and a pharmacy. The professional team of 12 includes a social worker, a psychologist and assistant psychologist, a neurologist, two psychiatric nurses, two health workers and two medical assistants.