Freemind Ghana, a non-profit health organisation, held a sensitisation workshop for stakeholders on Tuesday (28 November), which included traditional leaders, parents, local government officials, and the academia on mental well-being.
The event was held in Ho as part of the activities of the NGO to promote mental well-being and treatment in the country.
This year’s theme for the World Mental Health Celebration was “Mental health is a universal human right”.
The United Nations (UN) recommends one psychiatrist to take care of one hundred thousand people; however, in Ghana, the ratio is one psychiatrist to four hundred thousand.
Board member of Freemind Ghana, Eugene Dordeye said that although Ghana has not reached the UN’s recommendation, the country has improved in the treatment of mental illnesses over the past one and a half decades.
“There has been an accelerated improvement for the past fifteen years. For instance, about fifteen years ago, we had one psychiatrist for over two million Ghanaians; currently, we’ve got about one psychiatrist for four hundred thousand,” he told the media in an interview after the workshop.
Dordey, also a specialist psychiatrist at the Ho Teaching Hospital, added, “So that is about now one-fifth or we’ve improved five times for the past fifteen years so that is a good thing (for the country).”
He suggested that Ghana should begin to look at promoting mental health rather than its treatment. “For me, probably we should move beyond treating people with mental illness to improve mental health…
“…or to promote mental health where many people, especially our young men and young women, can well better use their brains to be more productive and not just probably finish school and look for work but they will rather finish school and create a job; they will finish school and create wealth,” he explained.
Speaking on mental health literacy, Dordeye urged the public to read more about mental illnesses and also seek advice from psychiatrists.
According to a report in October 2023 by the WHO, Ghana has made efforts to improve mental healthcare services at all levels.
However, a significant gap exists: only about two percent of Ghana’s 2.3 million people living with mental health conditions are receiving psychiatric treatment and support from health facilities across the country.
Freemind Ghana is one of Ghana’s organisations helping to improve the mental health and lives of persons with mental disabilities in the country as well as promote their human rights and dignity.
The organisation has a vision to foster and strengthen links with analogous-minded organisations, both locally and internationally, to harmonise activities and explore diverse forms of cooperation as well as assistance towards persons with psychosocial disabilities in institutions and their communities.
Reporting by Albert Kuzor in the Volta Region
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