About EMHA
Ethiopian Mental Health Association (EMHA)
The Ethiopian Mental Health Association (EHHA) is a professional association founded by four committed and volunteered Ethiopians first batch MSc graduates of the Integrated Clinical and Community Mental Health program, established on 16 May 2016 G.C. This association has more than 400 well-registered members and staffed with both Administrative and Finance staffs. To enhance its performance in various regions, it has established regional focal persons and Students’ University Associations across the country. That envisions safeguarding the profession and member mental health professionals through the attainment of the protection of rights and incentives, job description and nomenclature of clinical practice for the members and contributing to an optimal standard of mental health services in the country.
It promotes
better mental health services to the public and by high professional standards
through advocacy, professional competence, relevant policies, and effective
networking. EMHA is committed to improving the mental health service of the
people of Ethiopia through the dedicated and active involvement of the
organization and its members and collaboration with stakeholders.
EMHA is an
association of Mental health professionals mainly graduates of MSc Integrated Clinical and Community Mental Health Masters, BSc in Psychiatry and PhD in Mental Health. In addition, any health field graduates of various levels and categories who are interested in the main objectives of the association also join. EMHA
members are distributed all over the country occupying positions at different
levels of health care settings, universities and management. EMHA members are
also in private, government and non-government organizations.
EMHA is among
the pioneering professional associations in Ethiopia with a current membership
of more than 400. EMHA has its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and focal
points in different regions and universities of the country. The Association is
working closely with its partners and collaborators to facilitate and
accelerate activities on the country’s priority public mental health issues.
EMHA has good working relationships with governmental and non-governmental
organizations and universities within the country and abroad.
The
Association has a plan to strengthen the professional skills and capacity of its
members through annual conferences, continuous professional development and
sponsorship of members to participate in international conferences, and development
of curricula and guidelines. The association has engaged itself in
the following activities to achieve its objectives:
v Generating evidence-based information through
conducting skill gap assessments of the members.
v Training for members on skill gaps and new
approaches of care in mental health care
v Disseminating evidence-based information through
its established outlets throughout the country; such as newsletters, websites, and forums.
v Awareness creation and ant stigma campaign
v Establishing partnerships with the sister
associations nationally and internationally.
Ma Major national achievements
1. COVID-19 Response project with MoH and 11 PA consortium
EMHA trained 330 health professionals on COVID-19 Prevention and management in three regions (Tigray, Afar and Benishangul Gumz). Advocacy and awareness creation activities were also conducted in 2020.
2. Mental Health and Resilience Project
With the partnership with Project Hope Ethiopia, EMHA delivered a Mental Health and Resilience training project in the country as a local implementor from January 2022 to June 2023 in pilot and scale-up phases.
- 2014 Healthcare force training
- A pilot staff wellness program was initiated at four hospitals (Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Eka Kotobe General Hospital, Adama Hospital Medical College and Dabrabirhan Comprehensive Specialized Hospital).
- Advocacy activities were done for the local administration of the project implementation facilities
