By
Dennis Peprah, GNA
Sunyani, Oct. 1, GNA – Mr Fred Nantogmah,
Knowledge and Communication Officer of Basic Needs Ghana, a health centered
non-governmental organisation, has called for adequate budgetary allocation in
the 2019 national budget to effectively tackle mental health problems in the
country.
Currently, only 1.5 per cent of the total
budget of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) is set aside for mental health, he
said.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting in Sunyani
to validate a checklist for resource support for community mental health, Mr
Nantogmah said the issue of mental health remains a national worry which
requires strong budgetary support.
The meeting, which was organized by the MIHOSO
International Foundation, another health inclined NGO, and attended by District
and Municipal Directors of Health, was also aimed at sensitising the
participants on a mental health project being implemented by the two NGOs in
the Brong-Ahafo Region.
With support from STAR Ghana and its
development partners, the 36-month project titled: “Accessible and Quality
Mental Health Care for Poor and Marginalised Persons with Mental Disorders”, is
aimed at improving community mental health treatment through increased funding
to the mental health service.
It is being implemented in Tano North,
Sunyani, Techiman and Berekum Municipalities as well as Techiman North and
Sunyani West Districts of the Brong-Ahafo Region.
Mr Nantogmah expressed regret with the lack of
a Legislative Instrument (LI) to support the Mental Health Act 2012 (Act 846).
He said since the Act was passed in 2012
successive governments have not shown any political will to pass the LI to give
a realistic interpretation of the Act, saying the lack of the LI remains a key
impediment in funding mental health.
Mr Nantogmah appealed to the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development to direct the Metropolitan, Municipal and
District Assemblies (MMDAs) to commit and allocate resources to community
mental healthcare.
This, he said, would enable mental health
patients, who have gradually become a burden in communities to easily access
quality medical care for their treatment.
Dr Gabriel Gbiel Benarkuu, the Chief Executive
Officer of MIHOSO International Foundation, said mental illness could be
treated if patients strictly adhered to directions with regards to their drugs.
Mental health problem, he said, was not a
curse but a disability and advised care givers to ensure that patients take
their drugs at the stipulated periods.
Mr Joseph Yere, the Brong-Ahafo Regional
Mental Health Coordinator, expressed worry that intermittent shortages of drugs
were impeding the recovery of many of the mental health patients in the region.
He said because of drug shortages, many
care-givers and patients have relaxed and were not visiting health facilities
for treatment.
Mr Yere said because drugs for mental illness
were expensive, care-givers could not afford to buy them and appealed to NGOs
and philanthropists to help in stocking the drugs.
Mr Thomas Benarkuu, the Director of Programmes
of MIHOSO, said the project targeted men, women, boys and girls living with all
forms of mental disorders and appealed to the Municipal and District Assemblies
in the project areas to provide the needed support.
GNA