‘Make Mental Health your business’

Ghanaians have been entreated to examine their attitude to persons with disability in the country, particularly persons with mental disability, and rethink how they relate with them.

Mr. Yaro

Participants at the just ended National Seminar on ‘Ensure No One is Left Behind’ in Ghana’s Implementation of the SDGs in the Upper West Regional Capital, Wa, appealed to Ghanaians to seek ways to support Persons with Mental Disability, and reduce the stigma against them.

They underscored the need for every Ghanaian to take mental health issues seriously and work to support persons exhibiting symptoms of mental illness.

Various participants have pledged their commitment to support sensitise the public on mental illness, extend support to the mentality challenged

The Marshallan Relief and Development Services (MAREDES) in a presentation on ‘Leave No One Behind’ Ensuring People with Mental Illness are catered for in Development Processes, called for concrete steps to take care for the persons suffering from Mental Illness.

Commenting on Mental Health Situation in Ghana, Mr. Peter Yaro, MAREDES, estimates that 10.1% of Ghanaians have mild to moderate mental disorders, adding that a further 650,000 are suffering from severe mental illnesses.

He expressed worry about the fact that Mental health care in Ghana is overly medicalised, specialised and centralised, and called for the integration of mental care, increase in non-drug therapeutic services as well as self-care and community mental health at Public Health Care level in Hospitals.

Section of the Participants

Mr. Yaro bemoaned the low budgetary portion to Mental Health in the National Health budget, stressing that “the less than 10% of health budget allocated to mental health, with the available allocation going to mainly the psychiatric hospitals and personal emoluments of the workers was woefully inadequate.

With increasing trend of mental illness among the Ghanaian population, Mr. Yaro expressed the need for the training of more expert in the mental health, adding that current 15 Psychiatrists and 12 Clinical Psychologists in the country were underserving the people.

Participants expressed worry at the 98% treatment gap for mental illness in the country and called for a collective and concerted efforts to address reduce the treatment gap and ensure their inclusion in development plans. 

They noted that stigma, negative perceptions, fear, helplessness, poor attitudes towards mental illness, as well as inadequate infrastructure and service policy was affecting the delivery of mental illness and epilepsy in the country.

Non-State Actors in Ghana working to address Mental Health in Ghana, include Basic Needs-Ghana, the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), the MAREDES, the Mental Health Society of Ghana (MEHSOG), and the Centre for People’s Empowerment and Rights Initiatives and others.

They are engaged in advocacy to address right to treatment, human rights highlighting non-discrimination, no stigma and no abuse, and adequate budgetary allocation for mental health, and policies and programmes inclusive of the needs and rights of persons with mental health and epilepsy care needs.

However, Mr. Alexander Bankole Williams of the Ghana Federation of Disability (GFD), noted that the discrimination against persons with disability in the country was more attitudinal, and called for change in our attitude in order to end the stigma to persons with mental illness, since they are also human beings.