MindFreedom Ghana, a mental health advocacy group, said a lack of funding was a major obstacle to achieving universal mental health coverage in the country.
Dan Taylor, Executive Director of MindFreedom Ghana, said that although mental health care is free in Ghana, lack of funding makes it virtually impossible to fully treat mental health patients.
He made the remarks to the media on the sidelines of a mental health advocacy workshop organized by his organization in Ho.
He pointed out that despite the fact that the Mental Health Fund was established to fund mental health care, the fund is experiencing a drought as adequate funding sources are not institutionalized. .
He argued that a lack of funding is contributing to ongoing drug shortages, especially facility shortages, which are causing patients to relapse or drop out of treatment.
“Mental health as a policy in Ghana is free, but currently there is a shortage of medicines and other things. [used] To be treated, people must buy. Some people are unable to buy things due to poverty, so they relapse and go back to their original state,” he lamented.
Mr Taylor therefore implored the Government to consider a proposal to impose a monthly tax on public sector workers to raise money for a mental health fund in order to establish an effective healthcare system for mental health.
“Firstly, in Ghana, 10 pesewas have to be deducted from the monthly salary of civil servants, but the number of civil servants included in the government payroll is about 250,000. We will start from the civil service side and gradually move to the private sector. I will continue to do so.
“And of course there are other suggestions that there should be some sort of tax on alcohol and tobacco that would be used to fund mental health funds,” he said.
He praised the proposal to incorporate mental health into the National Health Insurance System (NHIS) to strengthen the treatment of mental health conditions.
Mr Taylor said mental health conditions are treatable and therefore people identified as having such conditions should be directed to access medical care, be diagnosed and receive treatment so they can reintegrate into society. He emphasized that it was necessary.
“Mental health conditions are not spiritual and we need to disseminate such ideas and false perceptions. Stigma is another issue and as families we must not dismiss them. must show such love and care to them.
I would say there have been cases where people have been treated who have had mental health issues, who have been aggressive, violent, all of the above. They will be able to remember everything that happened and how they were treated and will tell us about it,” he stressed.
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