SubSaharan Africa Brain Health Initiative

Why does the campaign begin with sensitization?

Because in most rural communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, dementia is apparently invisible. Not because it is rare, but because no one has given it a name, explained what it looks like, or made it safe to discuss openly.

Families watch a parent forget conversations, get lost walking familiar roads, or become someone they no longer quite recognize. Without a framework for understanding what is happening, they reach for the explanations closest to hand spiritual attack, old age, family curse or witchcraft.

None of these frameworks lead to a health facility. None of them lead to proper assessment. None of them result in the care that person deserves.

Sensitization changes the story.

SSABHI is working directly with communities through research, engagement with traditional leaders, community sensitization, and education of health workers, to introduce accurate, accessible, culturally grounded information about dementia and brain health.

When people understand what they are seeing, they seek help faster. Stigma eases. Families feel less alone. And the path from recognition to care becomes shorter and clearer.

The SEED Project doesn't just talk about the gap. We measure it.

In Ohaozara Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, our research team conducted a detailed study with 124 primary healthcare providers across 58 public and private health facilities. We wanted to understand, from the ground up, what they knew about dementia, how they felt about caring for patients who had it, and what they were actually doing in their day-to-day work.

The findings were clear and challenging:

• Fewer than 1 in 10 had received any dementia-specific training
• Only 4% could reportedly use a basic cognitive screening tool
• 85% of health facilities had no dementia screening procedures at all
• Nearly 90% wrongly believed that dementia patients could fully recover a misconception that directly delays appropriate care

These numbers do not reflect a failure of the healthcare providers themselves. They reflect a system that has not equipped its frontline staff with the knowledge and tools they need to serve their communities well.

This is precisely why the SEED Project exists to convert evidence into action, in Ebonyi State and across the sub-Saharan African region.

Follow this page to see how we are turning these findings into real change.

There is a phrase you have probably heard and perhaps said when an elderly relative begins forgetting things, getting confused, or behaving differently from their usual self.

"Don't worry about it. It's just old age."

It is said with kindness. But across communities in Africa, these words are quietly causing harm, because they stop families from asking the one question that could change everything: is this something medical? The answer, in many cases, is yes.

Dementia is a neurodegenerative condition that changes the brain affecting memory, thinking, behaviour, and the ability to carry out daily tasks. It is not inevitable, it is not a curse or punishment, and it is certainly not "just old age." It is a medical diagnosis that, when made early, opens the door to real support for both the person living with it and the family caring for them.

With the campaign, we will replace that one harmful phrase with something far more useful: accurate information, compassionate guidance, and a clear path to care.

Please share this. One person reading it could make an enormous difference to a family near you.

We hear a lot about heart disease, malaria, and diabetes. But one organ, arguably the most important one rarely features in our health conversations until something has already gone wrong.

The brain.

The Campaign seeks to empower individuals and communities with a message that is simple but powerful: brain health should be a routine conversation in every Nigerian family long before a crisis arrives.

Brain health is about keeping your mind sharp, your mood stable, your relationships strong, and your quality of life intact from youth to old age.

Follow this page. Share these posts. Your brain is worth the conversation.

NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS, MANCHESTER BRANCH JULY 2026 TECHNICAL SESSION

The Nigerian Society of Engineers, Manchester Branch, under the Chairmanship of Professor Adebisi Bamidele, MBE, cordially invites you to our July 2026 Technical Session.

*TOPIC: Understanding Dementia: Scientific and Social Perspectives.*

*SPEAKER:* Dr Laz Ude Eze.
*DATE:* Friday, 31st July 2026.
*TIME:* 6:00 pm (UK & Nigeria Time).

*MODE:* ON TEAMS

Microsoft Teams meeting
Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/39727671112372?p=zlcW3wcNPOGsbEhRuR
Meeting ID: 397 276 711 123 72
Passcode: rS7rd2ko

*Please note that our Technical Sessions starts at 6:00 PM( UK & Nigerian time)*

Dr Chukwuma Ogbonnaya
Technical Secretary
NSE Manchester Branch

By 8.00am today, our Co-Founder, Dr. Laz Ude Eze will create public awareness to make the Nigerian public . Live on Radio Sapentia. 95.3 FM, Onitsha.

We have successfully launched the Campaign. Follow the hashtag for more updates.

For the first time, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare commemorated the World Brain Day!
It's a good step forward.
We look forward to the implementation of the commitments made.

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