CHGA urges government to invest in mental health

Stakeholders in mental health care delivery in the country are pushing for legal backing to enable the Mental Health Authority (MHA) enforce its duties contained in the Mental Health Act.

A statement signed by the deputy executive director of the Christian Health Association of Ghana, James Duah, noted that there exist gaps such as acute shortage of psychotropic medicines, difficulties in accessing services at the community level, and general lack of awareness on mental health within the population.

The communiqué which was issued after a stakeholder’s conference in Accra revealed that a project commissioned by UK Aid-DFID in 2016 to assess the state of mental health services in Ghana, found that there was “visible absence of government’s optimum commitment to mental health services”, as evidenced by meagre funding or limited budgetary allocations for mental health. 

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“Although the mental health act enjoins the MHA to champion the course of mental health, there remains legal backing to enforce the duties contained in the Act (846). And so, subsequent to the passage of the new Mental Health Act 846, a Legislative Instrument (LI) is necessitated to facilitate effective implementation of the Act.Accordingly, the passage of the legal instrument (LI) remains imperative and indispensable for mental health,” the statement noted. 

"Given that every $1 invested in the management of depression and anxiety leads to a return of $4 and ability to work, Ghana will gain a lot by investing in Mental Health Services. Intuitively, it is socio-economically prudent, therefore, for the Government of Ghana to invest adequately in mental health services in order to promote growth and development and enhance the quality of life of Ghanaians.", James Duah concluded.

www.primenewsghana.com/ Ghana News