1,000 New Cases Of Mental Illness Recorded In Northern Region

Mr. John Abdulai Ibrahim

An estimated one thousand (1000) new cases of mental illness have been recorded in the Northern Region of Ghana since January up till date, Regional Psychiatric Coordinator John Abdulai Ibrahim has revealed.

The development, he observed, could further compound the mounting problems of the Psychiatric Unit in the region, citing inadequate number of psychiatric nurses, community psychiatric nurses, physiatrists, lack of motorbikes, fuel and insufficient medications for the old and newly identified patients. 

Mr. Ibrahim revealed this to Savannahnews in an interview after he made a statement to commemorate World Mental Health Day organised by Gub-Katimali Society (GKS) and BasicNeeds-Ghana at the Sagnarigu District in the Northern Region recently.  

World Mental Health Day is commemorated on October 10 every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health. The Day provides an opportunity for all stakeholders working on mental health issues to talk about their work, and what more needs to be done to make mental health care a reality for people worldwide.

 

The 2015 World Mental Health Day was marked on the theme: “Dignity In Mental Health”. The commemoration of the Day brought together various stakeholders including health personnel, social and development workers, National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mental Health Alliance, Traditional Authorities, Persons With Mental Illness and Epilepsy (PWMIE) and their caregivers.

Some of the common medications often prescribed for PWMIE are phenobarbitine, fluphenazine decanoate, olanzipine, haloperidol, cabarmazipine and among others. But sadly, Mr. Ibrahim said the Psychiatric Unit has run out of stock on some of the medications. “This could cause a lot of our clients who have recovered or stabilised to relapse”, he stated. 

There are currently about 700 psychiatric nurses and 210 community psychiatric nurses at post across the country when in actual fact Ghana needs 5000 and 3000 personnel respectively for each of the two categories of psychiatric nurses. Additionally, Ghana currently has only 14 psychiatrists instead of 150. Of the 14 psychiatrists, only one is serving the entire Northern Ghana at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

At the end of 2013, about 4,641 mental and epileptic cases were recorded as against 4, 082 cases recorded in 2012. The figures though reducing at a minimal rate constitutes about 60 percent of people with epilepsy according to Mr. Ibrahim.

He said medications are supposed to be supplied by the Ministry of Health four times in a year to the Northern Region. But the region in the whole of 2013, received only one out of the four consignments promised which obviously was inadequate for over twenty district hospitals.

Executive Director of GKS Sheik Yakubu Abdul-Kareem in a statement commended all stakeholders for their various roles in ensuring the passage of the Mental Health Law (Act 846), and the establishment of the Mental Health Authority and its Governing Board. “The formation of the Regional Mental Health Sub-Committee is also another concrete move to effectively address the needs of PWMIE”, he stressed.

He however noted that, the mental health sector was still underfunded and under-prioritised. “The supply of essential medicines needed by people with mental illness to stabilize their condition is still inadequate. 

“……..Research into issues affecting mental health in Ghana is still low. Non-drug mental health services are still very limited. PWMIE still suffer discrimination, stigma and other human rights abuses”, he revealed.

Public Education and Investigation Officer at CHRAJ Iddrisu Inusah also urged employers and health officials to be mindful of the way and manner they treat PWMIE. “Such persons still have right to employment and healthcare”, he emphasised. 

He further charged District Assemblies to stop maltreating PWMIE. “These vulnerable groups are by law entitled to 2% share of the district assembly common fund given to all MMDAs every quarterly. Refusing them their share is an act of discrimination and neglect”, he charged.

Northern Farmers Urged To Engage In Sesame Cultivation

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Queen Gaf Enterprise, Mrs. Gafaratu Fuseini, has urged smallholder farmers in the Northern Region to venture into the cultivation of sesame to enable them create wealth and food security for their families.

Speaking in an interview with Savannahnews during SNV Ghana sesame project field day celebration at Chereponi in the Chereponi District, she maintained that sesame has a lot of health benefits and economic prospects that could improve the living conditions of most farmers if they decided to engage in the cultivation of crop.

The Tamale based business woman, said sesame could be eaten raw after harvesting, used to make snacks, produce oil as well as beverages. “Sesame oil is safer and cholesterol-free as compared to other cooking oils......and there is high demand for this product, both locally and internationally”.

Sesame seeds are derived from an unremarkable plant of the Sesamum genus and bears, the scientific name of Sesamum indicum. Sesame seeds are considered the oldest oilseed crop in the world, and have been intentionally cultivated for more than 3,500 years. Evidence of their native forms are both in Africa and in India, places where they are still widely cultivated. It is extremely resilient, and grows in places where many other crops fail, which is why it was so heavily relied on throughout the ages.

Sesame seeds are extremely beneficial for health, but are often overlooked, and they include the ability to prevent diabetes, lower blood pressure, prevent a wide variety of cancers, build strong bones, protect against radiation, increase heart health, help cure sleep disorders, improve digestion, reduce inflammation, boost respiratory health, strengthen your oral health, aid in healthy growth, improve circulation, detoxify the body, and eliminate depression and chronic stress.

The many health benefits of sesame seeds are due to its nutritional content, including vitamins, minerals, natural oils, and organic compounds which consist of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, copper, zinc, fibre, thiamine, vitamin B6, foliate, protein, and tryptophan. The wide range of health benefits are explained in greater detail below.

Although it is a seed, it can still bother people with nut allergies, and it has a distinctly nutty flavour. Many of the health benefits are derived from the oils, which are found in higher concentrations in sesame seeds that in any other oilseed crop in the world. 

In 2013, the Netherlands Development Organisation, SNV– took a bold decision as the first organisation to promote commercial sesame production in Ghana, specifically in the Chereponi area.

The decision was based on the fact that most crop farmers had remained poor due to limited opportunities that exist in the area, and also because of the fact that the climatic conditions were no more favourable as before to ensure the productivity of farmers.

According to SNV Project Manager Zakaria Isaahaku, the organisation did a critical analysis of the socio-cultural and environmental factors and found that the prevailing factors at the time highly favoured the production of sesame but was neglected because of many factors including unavailability of market to sell after production.

The objectives of the project, he explained, sought to improve the yield or productivity of sesame; improve post-harvest management and processing; increase acreage under sesame cultivation; and improve market access for sesame producers.

Mr. Isaahaku stated that, within three years of intervention, the project has achieved modest but significant gains. “Within the period, quality seeds have developed and farmers are using them and local processing of sesame for household consumption has been tremendously promoted”, he emphasised.

He further explained that, post-harvest losses had also been reduced through training and use of tarpaulins for drying whereas profitable markets had been secured for farmers to sell their produce after harvesting.

“With a modest start of 1,000 acres in 2013 just in 2 districts, Chereponi and West Mamprusi–the project has grown in leaps and bounds to over 12,000 acres in about 7 districts. From less than 200 metric tonnes in 2013, total yields have increased to 5,000 metric tonnes in 2015 up from 980 metric tonnes in 2014. This season, farmers would be getting a direct income of over GH¢11,200.00”, he mentioned.

He called on the District Chief Executive for Chereponi Mary Nakobo to consider supporting women in the area with funding to go into the cultivation of sesame. He also urged buyers and producers to be honest and transparent in their relationship with farmers in order to ensure that the project is sustainable even after SNV pulls out.

TENI Volunteers Urged to Take Volunteerism Serious

Mohammed Awal Abukari

Community Volunteer Teachers (CVTs) engaged by NOYED-Ghana and VSO-Ghana under the TENI II project, have been urged to take their jobs seriously, so as to make positive impact on the lives of children they are teaching in their respective schools.

The CVTs have also been challenged to see the volunteering work they were doing as a springboard, on which to jump-start a totally new career in their lives in the near future.

Head of Administration and Accountant of NOYED-Ghana, Mohammed Awal Abukari, said this at a three-day volunteer sharing workshop held in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana.

The workshop, according to Mr. Abukari, was intended to understand the challenges volunteers were going through in their respective schools and communities, problems they thought were impeding the smooth progress of the TENI-II project, and come out with solutions to those problems.

Tackling Education Needs Inclusively (TENI-II) is a 4-year (2014-2017) project initiated by VSO-Ghana with support from Comic Relief–UK. It is a follow up on TENI I which was successfully implemented between 2009 and 2014.

The goal of TENI II is to achieve systemic change by improving transition, completion and quality basic education for some 14, 938 disadvantaged children, especially girls and children with disabilities. This is done through active involvement of multi-stakeholders such as teachers, NGOs and parents, all aimed at complementing the work of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

Beneficiaries of TENI II are located in five (5) districts of Northern Ghana including Talensi and Nabdam in the Upper East Region, Jirapa in the Upper West Region and West Mamprusi and Mamprugu-Moaduri in the Northern Region. 

The Executive Director of NOYED-Ghana, Alhassan Abdulai Iddi, in an interview explained, that all CVTs before their placement in their respective schools, were given intensive in-Service training. “This was to make them effective in teaching. They were taken through classroom management, lesson notes preparation in English language, mathematics and integrated science. 

“They were also taken through the teachers’ Code of Conduct as designed by the GES to guide every person serving as a teacher”, he emphasised. 

Volunteers At A Workshop in Tamale

According to Mr. Iddi, the CVTs were also taken through various topics under volunteering in order to deepen their understanding of the concept of volunteerism. “It is however expected of them that, while doing their work in the classrooms, they will share the values of volunteerism with the community members and their colleagues to trigger more volunteering initiatives in support of quality basic education delivery”, he intimated.

Boodomo Winifred, a volunteer of the TENI II project said: “When all hope was lost, I wanted to run away from my family and never return home. I lost respect from family and my peers just because I wasn’t working. 

“Now my name has been magnified through the TENI project implemented by NOYED-Ghana and partners; I have earned back my respect from peers and family members. The project has given me a job as a volunteer teacher at the Ul-Kpong Junior High School in Jirapa”, she noted.

Anisatu Halitu also a volunteer at Chapuri D/A Primary School in the Jirapa District, said through volunteering she had been able to take care of herself and her family. “TENI has also equipped me with skills and this has boosted my interest in the teaching profession”, she said. 

While lauding the project, the CVTs appealed to NOYED-Ghana and VSO-Ghana to supply beneficiary schools with teaching and learning materials and keep organising training workshops for volunteers. 

They also advocated for more volunteer teachers to be recruited to fill vacant classrooms still dotted around in many communities in the districts where they worked as volunteers. Some also stressed the need for NOYED-Ghana and its partners to give scholarships to volunteers who were qualified and interested in pursuing further studies in education.

The volunteers equally called on the GES to consider those of them that had professional qualifications in teaching and recruit them to fill existing vacancies in the communities they were working.