Firstly, we would like to congratulate you on taking the first step and the initiative, to taking back control of your health and wellbeing. We know it is a very challenging journey to make the necessary lifestyle changes required to sustain your health and wellbeing. We hope to equip you with enough information to support you through your journey.
My name is Berta Kaguako, a Health and Social Care Consultant with a professional background spanning psychotherapy, mental health, substance misuse, children and families, parenting assessments, senior management, and clinical governance. I also contribute to various advisory panels and boards.
Alongside my professional experience, I am also a patient!
My journey into this work did not begin in a clinical setting, but through lived experience. After becoming predominantly bedbound, with limited support from healthcare providers, I was required to navigate my health independently. This experience led me to explore and engage with alternative and holistic approaches to care.
EthVida was founded on this understanding. It was established as a dedicated, holistic platform designed to support individuals in navigating their health, serving as a centralised space for education, guidance, and empowerment.
Through our educational platform, we provide structured and accessible information across key areas, including mental health awareness, plant medicine, substance misuse, safeguarding, and goal planning. These resources are designed to support individuals in developing a deeper understanding of holistic health and making informed, positive changes. (You can explore this further in the Education section: www.ethvida.com/education/)
I now bring both professional expertise and lived experience into my work, with the aim of supporting individuals who may feel underserved or uncertain in their health journey.
No one should have to navigate their health alone. EthVida is committed to building a supportive and informed community, and will continue to grow and evolve to meet the needs of those we serve. The goal is to empower you to take back control, and to confidently utilise the resources available to you.
Welcome to EthVida, where we strive to build resilience in the community!
thVida is a non-profit organisation at the forefront of promoting a holistic healthcare approach for the management of chronic illness and longevity. Founded and led by both a patient and healthcare professional, EthVida is committed to bridging the gap between modern medicine and mindful, integrative approaches to wellbeing. Our mission is to educate, empower, and support individuals on their healing journeys through accessible, stigma-free resources.
Through our Free Educational Platform, we provide structured guidance across key areas of holistic health. We also host the Harmonia Podcast: Behind the Veil of Stigma, with a second season currently in development, and share practical, accessible wellbeing strategies through our Holistic Hacks social media series.
In addition, we offer Free Mental Health Coaching for ethnic minorities and women, providing a safe and supportive space for those who may face barriers in accessing care. (To learn more, please visit: https://www.ethvida.com/mental-health-coaching/)
We also contribute thought-provoking content to Brainz Magazine and continue to develop products and services designed to support patients in navigating and connecting with appropriate healthcare pathways.
Coming Soon:
✨ The Wellness Arena – a dynamic mindfulness workshop series
📱 HealthStyle – a mindfulness app designed to bring balance to your daily routine
Berta has always adapted a holistic approach to managing her health and wellbeing, recognizing the important contribution of diet, mindset, and daily habits, to improving on ones welfare and paving a a healthier future. Supported with plant-based medicines, better information regarding their health and a plan of action to see them through their recovery and formulate a new normal… the quality of her life had drastically improved.
For patients, after years of suffering due to the lack of education, appropriate support from health services and from being too exhausted living in survival mode, often leaves people giving up on their health and wellbeing of resulting in people adapting maladaptive coping mechanisms: placing a bandage on a bullet wound. At EthVida, we say no more! bring back healthcare.
Having faced similar struggles herself, Berta was fortunate to have a background in healthcare. She used this knowledge to advocate for her own wellbeing—yet even with that advantage, the journey was incredibly difficult. She often felt isolated and unwell. After surviving a suicide attempt, Berta made a powerful vow: no one else should have to go through what she did.
This commitment led her to seek out additional healthcare options, which eventually introduced her to cannabis-based medical products. The transformation she experienced was life-changing. Inspired by this, Berta became a passionate advocate for others who are still suffering—many of whom don’t even know these treatments exist.
At EthVida, we believe that reclaiming your health means taking a holistic approach to wellbeing. We’re dedicated to keeping our educational platform up to date, offering reliable, accessible information all in one place. Our goal is to be a one-stop resource, empowering patients to take control of their health through informed self-care and holistic practices.
🌸 Introducing “My First Period” — A Guide to Understanding, Confidence, and Care
EthVida, in collaboration with Sparkle Magazine, a Pakistan-based production company committed to philanthropic and non-profit initiatives, has developed My First Period—a children’s educational book designed to promote menstrual health literacy, dignity, and empowerment.
Now published and available on Amazon, the book has been created to support communities where access to formal sex education is limited or absent. It provides age-appropriate, culturally sensitive guidance grounded in medical knowledge, helping young girls understand what a healthy menstrual cycle can look like, how to recognise potential health concerns, and when to seek appropriate support.
A key feature of My First Period is the inclusion of real-life menstrual health experiences, representing a wide range of lived realities. These narratives explore both typical cycles and conditions such as PCOS, PMDD, and endometriosis, helping to normalise variation and reinforce that menstrual pain or distress should never be dismissed or endured in silence.
Beyond biological education, the book also addresses important social and cultural challenges, including stigma, period shame, and safety risks faced by girls in developing communities. It sensitively challenges harmful narratives, including the association between menstruation and readiness for marriage, and instead advocates for autonomy, protection, and informed choice.
My First Period is ultimately a call to action—encouraging open, informed dialogue, challenging stigma, and empowering young girls to approach puberty and womanhood with knowledge, confidence, and safety.
🌿 Honoured and Grateful 🌿
Nominations
We are honoured to be nominated for Social Enterprise of the Year at the 2025 UK StartUp Awards and the nomination for Rising Star at the 2025 Business of Cannabis Europe – a recognition that fuels our passion to keep breaking barriers in holistic care.
Awards
I’m truly honoured to be recognized with the CREA Global Award 2025 by Brainz Magazine and Pakistan Pride Awards 2025, for my contributions in empowering women and girls.
This recognition is especially meaningful as it celebrates our work on the Cannabis Chronicles — a segment dedicated to sharing real patient stories and highlighting the benefits of cannabis-based medical products. In a world where plant medicine still faces stigma and misunderstanding, being acknowledged for contributing to such an important — and often controversial — topic is both humbling and empowering. We are deeply grateful and inspired to continue advocating for awareness, education, and the destigmatisation of cannabis as medicine. This award fuels our mission to uplift patient voices and expand the conversation around plant-based healing.
Join the movement. Reclaim your wellness with EthVida!
We wish you a happy and healthy life.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama
What we do
We recognize that education must come first to support individuals on their health journey.
We create educational materials such as articles, podcasts, blogs and social media posts.
We also provide in-person education as part of our awareness programme. Want to learn more? Our upcoming events can be found here.
Due to decades of stigma (mostly due to the War on Drugs) and harmful drug policies, awareness and accessibility levels related to plant-based medicines are incredibly low.
We are committed to raising awareness and advocating for access plant-based medicines.
Our advocacy work is carried out through grass-roots activism, running events and our projects. Our upcoming events can be found here.
We are committed to actively listening to the patient’s view and their story.
We are dedicated to representing the patient’s voice within the health care system. We do this through our consultancy services and currently serve the UK Medical Cannabis Industry.
We can’t build a system fit for purpose without your voice. Healthcare should be patient-centred.
Humans should feel empowered to make informed decisions relating to their health and wellbeing.
Healthcare should be patient centred. Healthcare starts at preventative care.
Read more about our Mission & Values