Ecobank Cameroun Acts on Mental Health as Part of its Commitment Towards Better Health
Ecobank Cameroun, a member of the leading pan-African banking group, the Ecobank Group, celebrated the 9th annual Ecobank Day, its flagship corporate and social responsibility annual event that ‘gives back to the local communities across Africa. This year Ecobank Day was held on the 22nd of October under the theme ‘Mental Health – Time to Talk and Act!’. It marks the final stage of Ecobank’s three-year campaign to raise awareness and help prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Ecobank 2021 marks a significant turning point to raise awareness on Mental Health with the campaign “Mental health, it is time to talk and act”. During this campaign, several activities were carried out, including tips to take care of one’s mental health; educational talks in French and English with all Ecobank Cameroon staff led by experts from the local office of the World Health Organization (WHO); A Pan-African webinar on mental health and the need to discuss mental health issues held by Ecobank Group; sports activity with Ecobank staff in Yaoundé and Douala, and finally a high-level conference in Yaoundé on the theme: “Mental health and COVID-19 in Cameroon: Diagnosis, perspectives, and preventive measures”.
The conference was broadcast live on Ecobank Cameroun digital channels and was held with personalities among who was the representative of the Minister of Public Health, the Managing Director of Ecobank Cameroun, Mrs. Gwendoline ABUNAW, the World Health Organization Representative, Dr. Emmanuel DOUBA EPEE, and the keynote speaker Pr Armand LEKA ESSOMBA who introduced the debate on Mental Health and COVID-19 in Cameroon. Then followed a debate under the theme: “Mental Health and COVID-19 in Cameroon: Diagnosis, perspectives, and preventive measures’‘ by different experts such as Dr. Justine Laure MENGUENE (MINSANTE), Mr. Michel René NDJAB (WHO), and Mrs. Françoise MBONJO MBONJO (ECOBANK). The panelists shared their point of view on mental health, with the main aim of raising awareness on mental health and reducing stigmatization. To impart knowledge and basic self-care skills to the local population to preserve their state of well-being, to anticipate and effectively manage the various pathologies affecting the mental health of the Cameroonian population.
Managing Director, Ecobank Cameroun, Mrs. Gwendoline Abunaw said: ‘All of us at Ecobank Cameroun are determined to raise awareness and help prevent mental health issues, which can affect anyone. There are still a lot of misconceptions about mental health here in Cameroun. It’s very important to openly talk about mental health without the feeling of stigmatization or taboo. We’ll be using Ecobank Day 2021 to get these messages across to as many people as possible. Now is the time to talk and act on mental health!”
Ecobank Day is an annual event that was first held in 2013, focusing each year on a specific theme. These have been Education for young people in Africa (2013); Malaria prevention and control (2014); Every African child deserves a better future (2015); ICT education in schools and improving maternal health (2016); Safe water management (2017); Orphanages (2018); Cancer (2019); and Diabetes (2020).
For more information, visit https://www.ecobank.com/ecobank-day
