The prime project of the Department of Psychiatry of the College of Health Sciences (CHS) organized a meeting to celebrate the achievements of the project over the past seven years at the district council hall in Buei town of the Sodo district of Gurage region on April 14, 2018.

Health officials of the district, Gurage zone implementers, community representatives, service users, university representatives and partners from the Ministry of health and the funding organization (Department of international Development of the UK) attended the event.

Feleke Asfaw, head of sodo woreda health office, delivered an opening speech expressing his appreciation to the prime project which focuses on helping people suffering from severe mental disorder. He also stated that the project faces shortage of medicine to treat patients properly.

D/r Abebaw Fekadu, principal investigator of PRIME-Ethiopia, presented the seven years report of the project. He indicated that there is a plan to support better healing for depression, emergency surgery access at Sodo district and Nursing service for mothers.

Several families and council members gave testimonials of the reinstatement of numerous mentally ill people to their old lives through the project.

In his closing remark, Professor Zerihun Woldu spoke highly of the rewarding nature of working with community and pointed out that mental illness is not different from other sicknesses as it can be cured by treatment.