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An estimated 3.1 million Ghanaians representing 10 percent of the estimated 31 million population suffer from some form of mental disorder, with 16,000 having severe cases.
Obtaining data from the WHO and the Ghanaian Mental Health Authority, Mr. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, the Minister of Health, told Parliament that “it is clearly established that 41% of Ghanaians suffer from psychological distress – mild, moderate, severe – and it costs a loss of 7% of the nation’s GDP.
He was responding to a question put to him by Mr Christian Corletey Otuteye, Member of Parliament for Sege, who wanted to know the ministry’s plans to deal with the plight of people with mental health problems in Ghana.
The minister classified people with mental health problems into four categories: those who live on the streets, those who attend treatment facilities, which include psychiatric and general health facilities, those who attend traditional healing centers and religious, and those who live in their homes and in mental illness or who recognize but do nothing about it.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 10 percent of Ghana’s population suffers from some form of mental disorder. So with an estimated population of 31 million in Ghana, we have around 3.1 million people with mental disorders, ”he said.
“The Mental Health Authority did a rapid assessment, a mini census of people with severe mental illness on the streets a few years ago, and they enumerated 16,000 people in our cities and towns across the country. ”
Mr Agyeman-Manu assured the House that the ministry and its allied institutions, including the Mental Health Authority, Ghana Health Service and others, know the scale of the problem and have the human resources to address it.
“What we’re doing now is expanding mental health services nationwide, integrating them into general health care so that wherever we treat malaria, mental health can be treated. This will facilitate access to care, ”he said.
Mr Agyeman-Manu said that under the government’s Agenda 111 program, two new mental hospitals were to be built in the northern and middle belts, adding that sites had been identified, designs made and contractors selected.
He said that until recently, psychiatric drugs were not readily available, but they were now available thanks to budget allocations and donor support. He added that more psychiatrists have also been trained, which has increased their number from 10 to 45 at the moment.
He asked for the president’s support to find more money to deal with mental health issues and announced that the ministry was working on how to establish a mental health tax.
The minister called for an increase in the budget allocation to allow mental health patients on the streets to be picked up in small numbers both for treatment and sent home to their communities.
In connection with a question on the anti-snake serum asked by Mr. Daniel Nsala Wakpai, MP for Kpandai, Mr. Agyeman-Manu announced that the ministry had included the anti-snake serum in the framework contract for essential drugs.
Under the Framework, qualified companies are selected to supply the anti-snake serum, which is allocated and distributed to regional medical stores (RMS) and teaching hospitals across the country.
“The ministry allocates quantities to RMS and teaching hospitals based on their consumption and replenishes as stocks reach their replenishment level,” he said.
—Press room
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