By
Rashid Mbugri, GNA
Tamale, Nov. 17, GNA
– BasicNeeds-Ghana, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), has urged government
to improve on community-based mental healthcare delivery by giving priority to
resource allocation.
It said there had
been wide resource gaps hindering effective mental health service delivery in
terms of logistics, transportation and medical supplies, among other things.
Mr Fred Nantongmah,
the Knowledge Management and Communications Officer at BasicNeeds Ghana, said
research showed that there was 97 per cent gap in resources needed to
effectively ensure access to mental healthcare in the rural communities.
He was speaking at a
forum with the media to disseminate key findings in a Resource Allocation
Tracking Exercise for community-based mental health services, undertaken by the
NGO in 2018.
It was carried out
in 15 districts in five regions of the country; Northern, Upper East, Upper
West, Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra.
The exercise formed
part of the NGO’s Accessible and Quality Mental Health Care for Poor and
Marginalized Persons with Mental Disabilities Project.
It was funded by
Star-Ghana and supported by NORSAAC, Mental Health Society of Ghana, and Centre
for People’s Empowerment and Rights Initiative, among others.
The overall
objective was to improve on community mental health treatment through increased
funding.
Mr Nantongmah said
many of the districts covered did not have full complements of staff needed to
effectively deliver care in the communities.Â
Out of GH¢1,524,185.16
funds allocated to community-based mental health services in the districts,
government was the highest contributor of about GH¢1,339,647.36 among other
partners, he said.
Mr Nantongmah said
about 98.5 per cent was spent on staff emoluments and capacity building where as only five per cent
was allocated to the provision of medical supplies with nothing for office
equipment, logistics, furniture and fittings, mental health services and governance.
He said
metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies failed to include mental health
issues as part of their top priorities, thereby contributing only 0.7 per cent
to the sector.
He said data from
the World Health Organisation indicates that the country had a 98 per cent gap
in mental health treatment, hence the need for government to prioritise those
services.
GNA
