Ugbokhirima – The management of foremost traditional healing home in Orhionmwon local government area, Ogieva Traditional Hospital have appealed to the Edo state government to increase the subvention for the facility to enable it meet up with current economic realities.
Custodian of the home, Dr Ogieva Okunbor who spoke with The Nigerian OBSERVER recently at the facility location in Ugbokhirima community lamented that high cost of living coupled with meagre monthly subventions makes it difficult to meet daily demands.
Dr. Ogieva further appealed for occupational therapy for patients, to enable them recuperate faster from their mental illness, maintaining that some of them have been long treated and are fit to be integrate back into the society.
He said due to social stigma, families of those who have fully recovered refused to come forward and accept them, hence the call for skills acquisition so they can be useful to themselves and the country.
According to the tradomedical doctor, “more than 20 of them have been treated and are OK, and are even living like every other human being; they manage themselves, even care for others still under treatment. But their families have refused to come and accept them. With occupational therapy, they can learn and have something doing for themselves. Trust, people will easily accept them because they will not constitute liabilities.
“From the little we get as subvention we still manage to feed them. Government can train them on bricklaying, carpentry, block moulding, vulcanizing, infact anything that can make them useful, because they are just here despite treated”.
