‘Mental health law comatose’

Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital Dr. Akwasi Osei has stated that until a board is constituted by government to the implement the Mental Health Law, mental health delivery in the country will continue to be poor.

Currently, all the major psychiatric hospitals in the country are unable to admit new patients because the hospitals are cash-strapped due to the pressure on their meager resources.

Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicates that the Pantang and Ankaful psychiatric hospitals have totally halted the admission of new patients while the Accra Psychiatric Hospital is admitting only emergency cases.

The Ministry Of Health has indicated it will make money available to the hospital when it receives its share of the budgetary allocation. Speaking to Citi News recently, Dr. Akwasi Osei indicated that “as a country, we have not shown much commitment to mental health delivery”.

According to him, the Mental Health Law had been in existence since the 1st December but it had not been implemented.

“All that is required is to establish a board that will oversee the affairs with respect to the recommendations of the various positions. It is the law that will enable us to get adequate funding from the resources we have,” he charged.