PHOTO-BOOK BY NGO DEPICTS HORRIFIC STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH SITUATION IN GHANA

A region with a population of over 60 percent classified under the poorest and mostly underserved in terms of mental health services, Northern Ghana does not have a single psychiatric clinic or hospital, although it has a large number of mental patients.

Also, there is not a single psychiatrist in the three Northern Regions – comprising of the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions – and only 34 out of 600 psychiatric nurses countrywide serve the population, estimated at 3,317,478.

Nationally, the country has only fifteen psychiatrists and just four of them in active service. There are 600 psychiatric nurses when Ghana needs 3000 of them, and 115 community psychiatric nurses when 3000 would have been nearer the mark.

Records also show that Ghana has only three psychiatric hospitals, all of which are under-funded, overcrowded and located in the urban and better-developed south of the country.

Despite the gravity of these statistics, mental health continues to suffer neglect in terms of practical, sustainable action that could benefit poor, marginalized people with mental illness.

However, in this 21^st Century when mental health is viewed as a right, most people still consider the condition as a privilege. The new mental health bill, though delayed for many years, seeks, when passed into law, to improve the care of poor, vulnerable people with mental illness or epilepsy, safeguard their human rights and promote their participation in restoration and recovery.

Launching a photo-book in Tamale on the horrific state of mental health situation in Ghana particularly the three Northern Regions, the Country Programme Manager of BasicNeeds Ghana, an NGO, Yaro Peter Badimak, stressed the need to highlight the living conditions of people with mental health problems saying “there are human rights issues to such lives that cannot be ignored”.

He indicated that, a significant number of Ghana’s population experience one form of mental illness or epilepsy, disclosing that Ghana has 2.4 million people who experience one form of mental illness or the other, hence the need to advocate the concerns of people with mental problems.

According to Mr. Badimak Peter, people with mental health problems contribute to a large proportion of persons with disability, globally estimated to be 650 million people.

The photo-book highlighting the lives that most people with mental illness or epilepsy and their care-givers, including some of the people that work in the sector live, was produced from a project called “Ghana – A picture of Mental Health”, which was funded under the Mwananchi Grant Scheme managed by participatory Development Associates of Ghana.

The photo-book depicted horrific situations whereby mentally challenged persons have been chained, legs pinned through tree trunks, confined or kept in partially-enclosed porches or rooms, shackled and among others. Those in confined rooms eat, sleep and answer nature call there.

The collection of photos did not just portray the disgusting treatment and living conditions under which persons with mental disorders or epilepsy have to undergo, but also to show the humanness and hiding potential that people who are currently ill, or have stabilized in their condition, as well as their primary care-givers, have to contribute to their own wellbeing and those of their families.

Most of these people according to the photo documentary were once teachers, traders, hardworking wives or husbands, lovely children of parents and families. Unfortunately, the social stigma so often associated with mental illness or epilepsy, poverty and inadequate healthcare facilities have conspired to rob these people of the care and support they deserve.

The documentary clearly revealed that there is much to done to improve the situation of people suffering from mental illness and epilepsy in Ghana.

BasicNeeds Ghana since its establishment in 2002 has reached 18,838 people with mental illness or epilepsy from over 18,700 families, together with 18,335 care-givers.

Currently, the Non-Governmental Organisation (BasicNeeds Ghana) working actively with 17,603 people with mental illness or epilepsy, all of whom are receiving regular treatment. 4,681 of them have been trained or being trained in vocational skills; 2,014 people are operating small businesses; 1,032 are engaged in horticultural activities; and 8,476 of them are involved in several different income generating activities to cater for themselves.