Opening ceremony of Tripoli Community Mental Health and Substance Use Center

Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Médecins du Monde (MdM), Skoun Lebanese Addictions Center (Skoun) and El Rahma Medical Center inaugurated, in the presence of the National Mental Health Program, the newly opened Community Mental Health and Substance Use Center (CMH-SUC) in Tripoli as part of their joint commitment to make mental health and substance use services accessible for all.

In the presence of Catherine Bonnaud, AFD regional and Lebanon Director and the participation of the NMHP, MdM and Skoun, within the frame of the project "Capacity Building against Exclusion, Violence and Addictions in Lebanon" (ReCEVAL), officially opened the first Community Mental Health and Substance Use Center (CMH-SUC) in Tripoli, on Thursday, September 15, 2022, at the El Rahma Medical Center.

This CMH-SUC funded by France through an AFD grant (€4.3M), is part of France's support and commitment to mental health and substance use programs in Lebanon.

The Tripoli CMH-SUC aims at improving the access to specialized mental health and substance use services to all populations of the local community. The CMH-SUC will consist of a multidisciplinary team, providing mental health and substance use consultations. The CMH-SUC will work closely with surrounding health facilities and care providers working in the community, and will be an opportunity for many persons with mental health disorders or substance use issues to increase their wellbeing in the community, by improving access to services and reducing the stigma around mental health patients and substance users.

For Catherine Bonnaud, AFD’s regional and Lebanon Director, "this centre is perfectly in line with France's priorities to contribute to health as a whole, targeting the Lebanese and refugee populations of North Lebanon. It is part of a project funded by the AFD which aims to take into account the entire continuum of care and ensure better access to quality care, with a particular attention paid to the most vulnerable populations and women in difficulty. This global approach to mental health is made possible by the association of actors with a valuable diversity and complementary expertise. Although AFD has been supporting mental health and the fight against addictions for three years, it is keen to strengthen the NMHP and its integration into national policies, which is essential for the sustainability of the actions supported.”

"Most of the services of MH and SU are concentrated in Beirut and the opening of this center will respond to arising needs where services are almost inexistant. In addition to operating CMH-SUC, MdM aims to integrate mental health services to PHCC’s in Tripoli. The integration of mental health in PHCC aims to mitigate the existing gaps in the provision of mental health services and enable people to receive treatment inside the PHCCs.” says Bernadette Farcy, MdM’s General Coordinator for Lebanon.

“In such times, we found it essential to have MH and SU services made available and accessible to people who need them in this area, to help people stay as safe and healthy as possible as they navigate these very difficult times, in a region that was already suffering before the crises unfolded. This center will be one of the very few providing mental health services in the area and the first one to provide specialized support for people with SU disorders through a comprehensive therapeutic harm reduction model.” says Tatyana Sleiman, Skoun’s Executive Director.

The opening of this centre is taking place in a context of multiple crises, which are having a brutal and direct effect on the various populations of Lebanon. It is part of the continuity of the support provided by France from 2019 to the National Mental Health Programme and the consortium of NGOs led by Médecins du Monde and composed of Skoun, Embrace and ABAAD.