Mental health programme launched for jail inmates

ABBOTTABAD: To help jail inmates return to society with an integrated approach of psychosocial support and livelihoods development, the Prison Department and Human Development Organization (HDO) have jointly launched the integrated mental health and livelihoods development programme at Abbottabad district prison.

Religious scholar Maulana Amjad Seed Qureshi, District Khateeb Mufti Abdul Wajid, Superintendent Abbottabad prison Muhammad Naeem Khan, Deputy Superintendent Hafiz Rashad Ahmad were in attendance.

Speaking to the participants, Muhammad Naeem said that under the correctional agenda of IG Prison KP, the inmates were engaged in different activities aimed at socio-economic rehabilitation and the launch of integrated mental health and livelihoods development programme.

He said that mental health programme would help transform the prisoners into productive and self-dependent individuals during their post detention life.Briefing the audience, the HDO Programme Director Mohammad Ahsan Khan said that his organization had 18 years of working experience to provide psychosocial support to jail inmates. He that 80 percent of the detainees were those who committed crimes out of poverty and had to undergo both torture and incarceration, which was developing a vicious cycle of poverty, mental health complications and criminal tendencies.

He said that an integrated approach was needed to help jail inmates return to society with positive behaviour. “This approach will help them get rid of the stigma of incarceration and earn respect through active engagement in positive activities,” he said.

He added that under psychosocial support the inmates would be provided with psychological counseling, non-formal education, skill development (beads craft), medical and legal assistance.He said his organization had decided to expand its outreach to other prisons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.