Self-Help Groups of persons with mental illness and epilepsy and their primary caregivers in the Northern Region of Ghana, have called on members of the country’s legislature to endeavor to speed up the passage of the Mental Health Bill without further delay.
They also appealed to the government to consider setting aside a component of the District Assemblies Common Fund, for persons with mental illness just as it did for Persons With Disabilities.
The 12 Self-Help Groups consisting of 216 people who came from 12 District s, made the call at a workshop organized by BasicNeeds Ghana in the Tolon-Kumbungu District.
During their two-day residential capacity-building workshop, they were taught how to advocate properly alongside with good communication and lobbying skills.
According to Dokurugu Adam Yahaya, Community Projects Coordinator of BasicNeeds Ghana, the objective of the workshop was to enable participants advocate effectively for support from duty bearers, towards addressing serious issues bothering on mental health at the district and community levels.
He noted that similar workshops were recently organized in the Upper West and Upper East Regions which saw the participation of 55 and 99 people, respectively. Adding that, members of the groups were equipped with small scale business management skills to enable them sustain their economic activities.
Mr. Yahaya also mentioned that recently, two different workshops targeted at officials from various departments and agencies as well as the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly were organized in Tamale. The two events he explained, brought together officials from the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Community Development, Social Welfare, Military, Prisons Service, Community Protection Police and elected Assembly members from 53 Electoral Areas.
The Community Projects Coordinator of BasicNeeds Ghana emphasized that, the workshops aimed at sensitizing participants on mental health so that they could be in a better position to assist persons with such conditions at their workplaces when the need arises, and also join the campaign to push for the passage of the Mental Health Bill into law.
Alhassan Mohammed Awal, facilitator of the workshop told participants that in advocacy, the issues must be well communicated through the right channels to the appropriate authority.
According to him, as Self-Health Groups they must be able to identify the issues they are faced with, the goals and objectives, target audience, build support, develop the message, identify channels of communication and raise funds before implementing them. Adding that, anything short of this procedure, they would fail to achieve their objective.
Meanwhile, the new Mental Health Bill drafted in 2004 and completed in 2006, though delayed for many years, seeks, when finally 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.
The pending Bill, which has been hailed by the World Health Organization as one of the best legislations worldwide, also seeks to ensure that adequate provision of resources has nine parts consisting of a Mental Health Board, a Service, a Review Tribunal (to review mental cases), Visiting Committee, Voluntary Treatment and Involuntary Treatment. The other parts of the Bill are the Rights of a Person (to take a look at human right abuses and discrimination associated with mental health), Protection of the Vulnerable Group and Miscellaneous provisions. The Bill would further de-emphasize institutional care and help place mental care on the National Health Insurance Scheme.
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 in Northern Ghana and some parts of Accra.
Currently, the organisation is working actively with 17,603 people with mental illness or epilepsy, all of whom are receiving regular treatment. 4,681 of them who have stabilized 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.
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