Mental health care in Ghana

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 650,000 Ghanaians out of the country’s total population of over 22 million are suffering from a severe mental disorder, while 2,166,000 are suffering from a moderate to mild mental disorder.

According to the WHO, with less than 14 psychiatrists in the country to take care of the huge number of people suffering from a moderate to mild and  severe mental disorder, treatment of mental illness is bound to experience a serious treatment gap of 98 per cent.

Mental health is defined by the WHO as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Most people consider mental illness as a disease for drug addicts and people who are demonised.

Speaking at the 2nd annual Inter-Medical school public speaking competition held in Accra on Monday, the president of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS), Prof Dr. Dr. Sir George Wireko Brobby said one of the countless challenges confronting effective mental health service delivery in the country is the problem of stigmatisation.

He said stigmatisation had not only affected the patients, but has affected their families, as well as health workers including psychiatrists and only a few medical students are willing to take up a position in the mental health sector or major in mental health due to the stigma.

He said deep-seated stigmatisation has eroded the interest of even medical students in the field of psychiatry and unless the government is prepared to give incentives to residents of psychiatry, this condition will remain unsurmountable.

The 2nd Annual Inter-Medical school public speaking competition was organised by the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI), in collaboration with St Patrick’s University Hospital in Ireland, St John of God Development Company, the office of the Chief Psychiatrists of the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The theme for the debate was; A modern Mental health law coupled with increased funding for mental health services delivery is essential for accelerated national development.

The competition was aimed at promoting psychiatry as a career option for medical students in line with efforts to mobilise and inspire medical students and Ghanaian residents to consider psychiatry as a career optionadvocate for the promotion of mental health.

The schools which competed in the debate were the University of Ghana Medical School (UGMS), the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences (UCCSMS),the University for Developmental Studies Medical School (UDSMS), and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medical Sciences (KNUSTSMS).

Prof. Dr. Dr. Sir Brobby said most people in the country have considered mental illness as the preserve for drug addicts and people who are demonised, adding that mental health service over the past years had also been overlooked by many people including governments.

This calls for radical steps to reform the mental health sector, a situation which justifies the one initiated by AGPI. The AGPI is an association aimed at mobilising material and human resources for development, and mobilising and inspiring Ghanaians and Africans in Ireland to enable them achieve their full potentials through education, entrepreneurship, enterprise and healthy living.

It has also been at the frontline in current efforts towards devising credible and sustainable solutions to the many problems confronting mental health in Ghana.

The Chairperson of AGPI, Dr Vincent Agyapong, urged the government to set up a Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Mental health and disability to radically revamp the sectors. He also called on all persons in authority to agree to and help in the enactment of the Modern health bill which is currently before parliament to be passed into law.

According to Dr Agyapong, the president should positively react to the bill by implementing its passage into law. “The president promised to be the father of all when voted to power, and no father will afford to see his children mentally ill on the streets”, he said.

All the speakers of the four medical schools challenged that with the enactment of the bill into law, most students would be encouraged to take up the course of psychiatry. They held the view that the promotion of mental health in the country would go a long way to help in the accelerated development of the country at large.

The deputy minister for education Hon Mahama Ayariga, urged other Ghanaian diaspora based organisations to emulate the AGPI to come up with initiatives and programmes that would impact on vulnerable societies across our dear nation.

UCCSMS emerged the winners of the debate,while UDSMS came second, with KNUSTSMS being adjuged third and UGMS the fourth after the competition.