Govt Must Finance Mental Healthcare Delivery In Ghana-CVM

Mental Healthcare Delivery in Ghana has experienced a gross negligence by the Government of Ghana and the Private Sector. The Government of Ghana in a bid to address the Mental Healthcare Challenges enacted the Mental Health Act 2012(Act 846) as well as instituted the Mental Health Authority.

With this kind of laudable initiative it was expected that the John Mahama Administration would have committed significant resources to finance the full implementation of the Mental Health Act so that the Mental Health Authority will address the various challenges facing the Mental Healthcare Delivery in Ghana in order but very little was done within the four years by John Mahama Government to support the Mental Health Authority.

Ghana�s Mental Health Sector is primarily funded by the Central Government and normally supported by donations and the internal funds generated by the Psychiatric Hospitals.

Mental Healthcare has becomes a critical international concern but Ghana is still straining to attend to the Mental Health needs of its suffering and stigmatized citizens. Currently, the few Psychiatric Hospitals in Ghana are severely congested; there is low mental healthcare Professionals and non-existence of Government Rehabilitative Care Centres.

Under our current circumstance, there are no special services for Old Age Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry. Ghana has only three Public Psychiatric Hospitals namely Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Pantang Hospital and Ankaful Hospital.

Ghana�s Mental Healthcare faces the challenges of Availability, Accessibility, Affordability, Quality and Mental Healthcare Professionals due to lack of adequate funding from the Government and the Private Sector.

One of the innovative ways to address the challenges facing Mental Healthcare Delivery in Ghana is through the adoption of the �Government-Private Ownership� method of financing Mental Healthcare. The Mental Healthcare needs serious Capital Investment ranging between $250-500million and the Government of Ghana can achieve this through Public-Private Engagement. It will be laudable idea for the Government of Ghana to partner the Private Sector in the Financing of Mental Healthcare Delivery in Ghana.

The leadership of Concerned Voters Movement (CVM) is passionately appealing to President Akufo-Addo�s Government to fully resources the Mental Health Authority of Ghana so that the Authority can undertake the expansion and renovation of the existing Psychiatric Hospitals.

We are also passionately appealing to President Akufo-Addo�s Government to consider budgetary allocation in the 2nd Edition of the Asempa Budget (2018) for the establishment of New Psychiatric Hospitals in Ghana such as:

1.Accra Psychiatric Teaching Hospital to serve as a referral centre for the Coastal Regions

2.Kumasi Psychiatric Teaching Hospital to serve as a referral centre for the Middle Belt Regions

3.Tamale Psychiatric Teaching Hospital to serve as a referral centre for the three northern Regions

4.Regional Psychiatric Hospitals

5.District Psychiatric Hospitals

6.National Psychiatry Research Centre to train specialized Mental Healthcare Professionals.