On April 11–12, 2025, HAPI, with Cedar Seed Foundation, and in collaboration with Sightsavers, Global Disability Inclusion, and The Leprosy Mission Nigeria, organized a Two-Day Intensive Training on AI Chatbot Development at the Leprosy Mission in Forth Royal Estate, Lugbe, FCT Abuja. The launch event drew disability advocates, government representatives, mental health workers, and the media, highlighting broad recognition of the critical need for leg amputee support in conflict and underserved areas.
Why Mental Health Support for Amputees Matters
Approximately 65 million people across the globe have limb amputations, of whom about 5 million live in Africa, where there is very little access to reconstruction and rehabilitation care. Research has shown that amputees in Africa experience significant depression and anxiety levels, at about 30% for some groups, and up to 46.7% experience abnormal depression after amputation.
Few African governments spend less than US $0.50 per head on mental health, well short of the recommended US $2 per person meaning that 75% of people with mental disorders go without treatment. With such a shortage of mental health care amputees in Africa so desperately required, an AI chatbot for amputees in Africa is both groundbreaking and necessary. During her keynote address, HAPI Executive Director Aver Akighir cited a 30% yearly increase in Nigeria’s number of amputees, the cause of which is bomb explosions, landmines, motor accidents, and attacks by insurgent groups.
Program Features & Training Highlights
The curriculum combined hands-on chatbot development with trauma-informed design principles. Key modules included:
- 24/7 Emotional Support for Amputees: Participants learned to script empathetic, real-time dialogues that the chatbot now delivers round-the-clock, reducing isolation among users.
- Resilience-Building Tools for Amputees: Through interactive storytelling, mood-tracking dashboards, and gamified coping exercises, the system empowers users to monitor and improve their mental well-being independently.
- Community Connection Amputees: Ambassadors configured peer-to-peer testimonial modules that foster solidarity, creating an amputee support network AI that links survivors across borders.
The pilot certified 25 amputees and 10 facilitators, who will serve as local trainers in their regions, laying the groundwork for a network of Two-Day Intensive Training on AI Chatbot Development hubs across Africa. These ambassadors customized the AI chatbot mental health support for amputees in Africa to local languages and cultural contexts, ensuring relevance and long-term sustainability. By merging advanced AI with community empowerment, the initiative creates a blueprint for replicable, inclusive, tech-driven humanitarian solutions.
Why does this matter in Black Communities?
Amputees in conflict-affected regions, such as northern Nigeria, often endure layered traumas from violence, displacement, and societal stigma that intensify psychological distress. Globally, Black communities face comparable barriers: mental illness carries deep stigma, treatment is often delayed, and access to culturally competent care is limited, factors that worsen outcomes and chronicity among African and African-descended populations.
In the U.S., for example, the prevalence of depression among African Americans is similar to other groups, but severity and functional impact are higher due to systemic inequities and delayed treatment seeking. Digital tools like AI chatbots can break these barriers by offering non-judgmental, around-the-clock support at minimal cost. A scoping review of health chatbots in Africa found they can be effectively deployed for health education and psychosocial support when culturally tailored and rigorously evaluated.
Pilot studies, such as the Vitalk chatbot for Malawian health workers, demonstrated significant improvements in wellbeing and resilience over eight weeks, outperforming passive online information.
In South African universities, AI-driven chatbots are already providing cost-effective, stigma-free mental health support for students, illustrating scalability across diverse African contexts. Generative AI chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT-based tools) have shown high engagement and positive impacts on trauma recovery and relationship building, suggesting the potential for more sophisticated, empathetic interactions in future iterations.
Africa’s amputee population is growing rapidly, yet mental health support remains scarce. HAPI’s program bridges this gap, demonstrating how AI can drive social change. Its success could inspire similar innovations for other marginalized groups, positioning Africa at the forefront of inclusive, tech-driven humanitarian solutions.
For more information or partnership opportunities, contact:
Aver Akighir
Executive Director, HAPI
Email: averakighir@yahoo.com | Phone: +234 806 855 4752
By empowering amputees themselves to develop these chatbots, HAPI not only bridges the mental health support amputees Africa gap but also fosters community ownership and sustainability. This model can catalyze similar innovations for other marginalized groups positioning Africans as leaders in inclusive, tech-driven humanitarian solutions.
