Former Chief Psychiatrist decries lack of interest in mental health

Accra, Aug. 17, GNA- Dr Joseph B. Asare, former Chief Psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health on Monday expressed concern about the lack of interest in Mental Health service by some policy makers, contributing to the delay in the passage of the Mental Health Bill. Dr Asare who was addressing the media in Accra on: "The Current State of the Mental Health Bill: Effective Reporting on Mental Health and the Way Forward," said most mangers at the policy making level had little knowledge about mental health.

He noted that previous health reforms gave very little attention to mental health and it is obvious that the issue had become a misfit. The bill, which seeks to improve health care for the mentally ill and address human right abuses by those who patients in their care, is divided into nine clauses.

These are mental health authority, mental health service, mental health review, visiting committees, voluntary treatment, involuntary treatment, rights of persons with disorder, protection of voluntary groups and miscellaneous provisions. Dr Asare called for the autonomy of psychiatry hospitals to make them more independent to run their own affairs just like the teaching hospitals.

Dr Kofi Ahmed, a Health Management Consultant who gave the historical development of the Mental Health Law in Ghana, said the first legislative instrument, the Lunatic Asylum Ordinance, (Cap 79), was passed in 1888 to provide custodial care for mentally ill, under the Department of Health. This was amended in 1972 and 1996. "In 2009, just over a century ago when the first ever legislation was passed in the country, a Mental Health Bill 2009 has been drafted to replace the Mental Health Act, 1972 (NRCD 30), which was found to be out of date and not in accord with the best practices and standards for mental health legislation."

Dr Samuel Ohene, Head of the School of Psychiatry of the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, who gave an update of the current state of the draft bill, said every single delay of the passage of the bill amounted to violation of the human rights of the mentally ill and caused inefficiency in the running of mental health care. He expressed concern about placing the bill operationally under the institutional care division of the Ghana Health Service, implying that mental health was all hospital business, whilst there is a significant community component.

Dr Ohene called on all stakeholders to join forces in pushing for the speedy passage of the bill, and urged parliamentarians to offer the necessary support on the matter when it appear on the floor of the house. 17 Aug. 09