Poor resource allocation, leading to inadequate beds, irregular medicine supplies, and low public awareness, amongst others, are some of the challenges confronting the mental health and illness system in Ghana.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 2.4 million Ghanaians could be suffering from various degrees of mental illness.
The organization underscores the urgent need for increased collaboration to strengthen Ghana’s struggling mental healthcare system, including infrastructure and technical support.
” Lack of funds at the institutions is making them take huge sums of money before they admit a patient. This is a challenge for us. That is why people don’t want to be admitted to mental health institutions because it’s quite expensive nowadays.
The government is not cushioning them enough to take care of this. Management does not have money to supply them with some items,”
In an interview on Western Echo, Maxwell Graham, a registered mental health nurse at Takoradi Government Hospital, said mental health units cannot do much due to financial constraints.
Mr Graham stressed that mental health units have not received medications in the last 13 years, which makes the management of the illness difficult.
An estimate of about 600 persons, he noted visits the mental health facility for treatment.
He said, “Some of the patients are also facing financial difficulties and when you give them a prescription to purchase they are unable to. This makes the management of mental illness seem difficult.”
The government is however implored to give mental health illness enough attention to help reduce and curtail the prevalence of the situation.
