Stakeholders want Legislative Instrument on Mental Health Law approved

Civil Society Organisations working in the area of Mental Health have called on the Government to expedite action on the approval of the Legislative Instrument on Mental Health Law.

They said the LI, when passed, would help improve and maintain quality mental healthcare delivery in the country.

At a forum organised by Civil Society to discuss ways to support Mental Health issues, Dr Akwasi Osei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Authority, called for the institution of a board to ensure efficiency in mental healthcare delivery.

He said mental health issues were not a priority in Ghana and funding remained a major challenge to implementing the Law.

Professor Joseph Bediako Asare, the Former Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Mental Hospital, who chaired the forum, said mental health issues had become static and called for the need to prioritise them.

Stakeholders discussed the need to ensure that there is a Mental Health levy to ensure the efficient funding of their activities.

Mr Peter Yaro Badimak, the Executive Director of Basic Needs, Ghana, a civil society organisation focused on Mental Health, noted that Ghana’s mental health systems must be made to function more efficiently than they are currently.

Basic Needs-Ghana, with the support of Star Ghana, is implementing a project on the status of the Mental Health Law of 2012 (Act 846) the Legislative Instrument to enhance public awareness and knowledge.