BasicNeeds Ghana

On Wednesday, 6th May 2026, BasicNeeds Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, convened stakeholders from national, regional, and district levels across government health institutions, development partners, civil society, and the media in Accra for the 2nd National Mental Health & HIV/TB Stakeholder Meeting.

The meeting was organized under the Expertise France-funded project, with a focus on building a national agenda for strengthening integrated Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) in HIV, TB, and Maternal & Child Health services.

Participants also explored effective delivery of the ongoing project and opportunities for scalable implementation at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level.

L'Initiative World Health Organization Ghana Mental Health Authority The Global Fund Ghana AIDS Commission CPRI-Ghana Mental Health Society of Ghana Christian Health Association of Ghana - CHAG

Last Wednesday, 15th April 2026, the Community Advisory Board (CAB) of the HOPE-Research Project convened to reflect on the critical role of lived experience in the next phase of the project.

The Project Coordinator, Azuure Stanislaus, provided the Board with key implementation updates, including a review of the Theory of Change and progress on the development of the Multi-Stakeholder Team (MST) Manual.

CAB members also participated in an engaging session led by the CAB Convener and LEAG member, Hannan Legend, The session introduced key concepts such as Peer Support, Trauma-Informed Care, and De-escalation, essential approaches for effective and compassionate community-based mental health work.

Members offered valuable inputs to strengthen these processes, emphasizing the importance of inclusive lived experience expertise, promoting diverse perspectives within the MST, and investing in capacity-building to deepen lived experience advocacy within Ghana’s mental health and development landscape.

Eleven out of the twelve CAB members were in attendance, demonstrating a strong commitment to advancing inclusive and impactful change. We appreciate the continued commitment of CAB members in shaping a more inclusive, responsive, and impactful project.

Exciting update from BasicNeeds-Ghana

We're taking crucial steps to improve maternal mental health in Ghana 🇬🇭

Today, we were involved in a workshop with key health officials from the Greater Accra Region at the Regional Health Directorate in Accra to deliberate on strengthening Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) and to validate the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) screening tool.
This tool will help boost detection and care for pregnant women & post-partum mothers facing HIV, TB, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV).

Key aspects of the meeting included

📊 Project overview & presentation on perinatal depression
✍️ Hands-on practice with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) screening tool
💬 Feedback session to strengthen maternal mental health services

This meeting builds on our earlier stakeholder meeting on advancing the inclusion of mental health screening in the Maternal and Child Health Record Book.

Appreciation to our partners, the Ghana Health Service and Mental Health Society of Ghana for collaborating and sharing valuable insights with us on this vital initiative under the Expertise France -funded project titled “Strengthening community health systems to enhance integrated people-centred HIV, TB, SRH and MHPSS for vulnerable women and adolescents in Ghana.”

L'Initiative