The Health Subsidy Scheme operates for the welfare of the poor and people living below the poverty line. The scheme provides cashless treatment cover for specified procedures and contributes partially towards hospital fees. The scheme provides funding access to give people from the local communities, including orphans and vulnerable children, better access to good quality and affordable health services.

Since the outbreak of the Anglophone crisis in Southern Cameroon, the provision of affordable basic health care and community mental health services has been a serious problem, especially as a large proportion of the population in this area are internally displaced living in bushes and overcrowded communities within the towns and cities fleeing from the ongoing crisis.

Community mental health services are in dire need now, however, the stigma surrounding mental health and its treatment is one of the greatest barriers to mental healthcare.

Despite the high prevalence of mental illness in our local communities, previous studies have consistently demonstrated the presence of stigma not only among the general population but also among providers. For example, HIV patients, survivors of abuse, and rape survivors, widows whose husbands were killed in the war, young children that have become orphans due to the war, and those living in orphanages are at increased risk but often fail to seek treatment because of stigma and fear of retribution.

With better mental health provision and counselling services the lives of widows, children, rape survivors, and those fleeing from domestic abuse will improve and they will be empowered through access to capital, food provisions to improve their livelihoods, and access to the health services they need.

This project aims to create a society where people that need mental health services can attain their right to protection, inclusion, and participation in society with the ability to cater for their needs and sustain their livelihoods.