MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia’s own Dr. Janice Cooper is expected to receive Boston University’s highest public health award today.

Cooper has been working assiduously with the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program to ensure that people with mental disorders receive proper care and treatment. Because of her relentless effort in making sure that persons living with mental illness are cared for and not disregarded, the US-based institution has awarded the Beyond Health Award, which she will receive today, November 17.

As many as one in five Liberians suffer from a mild to moderate mental health disorder, according to the World Health Organization.

The Liberia Medical and Dental Council reports that there are only four registered psychiatrists in the country, including one Liberian and three foreign nationals.

Mental health care in Liberia remains a challenge since the Catherine Mills Rehabilitation Center in Paynesville was destroyed during the civil war. The facility is currently occupied by squatters.

The Edward Snoh Grant Hospital, a private facility, is now being used by the government to care for persons living with mental disabilities.

In an exclusive interview with The Bush Chicken minutes before her departure for the United States of America, Cooper said she was extremely flattered to learn of the prestigious award.

“I was astonished that Boston University had focused on the work of the Carter Center mental health Liberia team,” she said.

Cooper said she was honored to be selected, as there are many projects in the global health sector that could have been picked instead.

“The fact that the Carter Center Mental Health Project in Liberia was singled out for recognition makes it extremely great,” she said.

While appreciating the award, she acknowledged that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to reduce the level of stigma for people living with mental illnesses.

“The recognition by Boston University is motivation for the Carter Center mental health Liberian team to go forward and do more for persons with mental disorders in the country,” Cooper said.

She saw it as the culmination of a rewarding year in the field of mental health as the World Health Organization has also taken an unprecedented interest in the country’s mental health system.

Cooper is also receiving the award alongside Larry Kessier. Kessier is the founding director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusettes, an agency that has served more than half of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Massachusetts, raised awareness of the virus to generations, and secured a progressive city, state, and federal AIDS policy.

Cooper is currently in the country for the Carter Center Liberia mental health initiative. She oversees a national training policy and support program to expand capacity for mental health services delivery in the country.

Prior to joining the Carter Center in 2010, Cooper was the interim director for the National Center for Children in Poverty as well as an assistant clinical professor of health policy and management at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Cooper earned a doctorate in health policy from Harvard University and was a fellow in medical ethics in 2001 at Harvard Medical School and an Archibald Bush Foundation leadership fellow in 1999.

Featured photo by Zeze Ballah