Mental Health Awareness & Support

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Just over 32 million people live in Ghana. Although there is a lack of reliable data regarding the prevalence of mental and neurological disorders in the country, WHO estimates that approximately 13 percent of Ghanaians suffer from a mental disorder: of those, 3 percent suffer from a severe mental disorder and the other 10 percent suffer from a moderate to mild mental disorder ( WHO, 2007). Mental disorders are a leading cause of years lived with disability in Ghana, behind iron-deficient anemia ( IHME, 2013a). Among patients seeking treatment for mental health issues, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and mood disorders are the top three diagnoses, although a large percentage of people receive no specific diagnosis, according to Joseph B. Asare, chair of the Mental Health Authority Board in Ghana.

The treatment gap for mental health disorders in Ghana, said Sammy Ohene, senior lecturer and head of the department of psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School, is estimated to be more than 98 percent ( WHO, 2007). Albert Akpalu, chief of neurology at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, offered several reasons why Ghanaians diagnosed with an MNS disorder do not receive treatment, including

• Fragmented mental health service delivery system and poor integration into primary care system;
• Poor supply of medicines;
• Poor health information systems;
• Community beliefs, attitudes, stigma, and lack of community support;
• Few financial resources allocated to MNS disorders;
• Lack of human resources and capacity for providing care;
• Lack of locally adapted, evidence-based training materials; and
• Lack of a clear referral and support system.

VOIICE seeks funding to reaching the following goals;

1. Receiving internationally and locally recruited mental health professionals to help run our mental health outreach and support project.

2. Accomodation and feeding of these volunteers for a maximum of 8 weeks on-site.

3. Covering costs of travel to urban and rural communities in Ghana for project.

4. Organizing mental health workshops to train young people with some background in mental health to offer some mental health assistance to those who need it.

5. Organizing seminars and community events to raise awareness on mental health.

6. Purchasing and distribution of logistics and medicines required for the outreach.

7. Setting up atleast a mental health mini center in a community that have no access to mental health care in our first year of outreach.