22 hours Ago By Contributing Writer
Aimed at equipping citizens with needed knowledge and skills during emergencies such as heart attack, near-drowning, suffocation, and other triggers that affect the sound minds of individuals among others, the Liberia Medical Mission (LMM) 2025 in collaboration with Dave Llewellyn Dixon and Associates (DLDA), a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm based in the United States of America, has trained over 50 persons in mental health and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in Buchanan city, Grand Bassa.The training, which was organized by BLESSING-Liberia, a local youth organization operating in Grand Bassa County, was facilitated by psychologists and health experts from the United States of America and other countries who are part of the LMM 2025 team.Participants of the training were drawn from the Liberia National Police, Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency, and the Liberia National Fire Service for the two-day sessions from February 25-26, 2025.
Healthcare service providers, teachers and caregivers from the Grand Bassa County Health team, other clinics and hospitals, orphanages, nurses and students from nursing institutions and high school students also participated in the workshop in addition to leaders from communities, youth and women groups. According to the World Health Organization, one in five persons suffers from mental disorder in Liberia, and with a population of five million, it is estimated that about 400,000 citizens have some form of mental disorder, with roughly 130,000 experiencing severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. And currently, Liberia suicide rate has climbed from 2.
27% per every 100,000 people in 2018 to 4.50% as of now.At the same time, the rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training is considered low in Liberia compared to developed countries, with significant access barriers due to limited availability of training programs, healthcare infrastructure, and public awareness regarding CPR importance.
Making remarks at the closing ceremony of the workshop the founder and President of DLDA Dave L. Dixon said his group’s decision to support the LMM 2025 activities in Grand Bassa was based on the need to expand simple emergency care response across sectors and individuals. “Many of our people do not understand CPR and so they do not know what to do when an emergency situation like suffocation that could be reversed immediately with simple techniques arises in the community but sometimes this ends up becoming fatal and that is why we want this knowledge to be common among the citizens” he said.
According to him, regular mental health training is essential for Liberians from all walks of life and age groups especially citizens from state security agencies like the LNP, LDEA, and LNFS because their line of work exposes them to things that affect them psychologically on a daily basis. Also speaking LMM health expert Janice Nancy Gray expressed excitement over the achievement of the mission in the country over the years including the training in the port city of Buchanan.“We come every two years and do services around the country and it’s hard work but I really enjoy myself doing it” she said, adding “it is dedicated to our people as I am a Liberian and I feel really good giving back to our communities and to our people in Liberia” she said.
For part, LMM Psychologist Dr. Williametta Simmons who also expressed her joy in providing humanitarian services in mental health for people in need in the country said the LMM 2025 has brought awareness on mental health illness to break some of the taboos. “Our mission is to bring awareness to mental health and mental illness and also to be able to equip each and every person to learn how to deal with mental health challenges in all forms, to know that you do not need to be an expert or professional to be able to help the next person by learning basic tools to help people that are in needs” she said.
Concluding, BLESSING-Liberia Executive Director Eugene K. Myers lauded the LMM 2025 Grand Bassa team for facilitating the Mental Health and CPR training in Buchanan city.According to him, every Liberian including youth, adolescents, girls, boys, young adults, women and men and the elderly are currently experiencing one form of mental health stress or another due to family and peer pressures, economic hardship, health or loss of a loved one, among other factors, that required regular and daily engagement of care group to overcome but such group is nonexistent and people are made to bear mental burden alone to their detriment.
He hoped that participants would apply their new knowledge gained and skills acquired to form support groups to seek out and help people in needs of psychological support in their communities without being asked to and also to intervene in CPR cases to be lifesavers. The post Liberia Medical Mission 2025 Trains 50 In Grand Bassa appeared first on FrontPageAfrica..
