GHANA – The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General’s Special Initiative for Mental Health (DG-SIMH, recently conclued a four day techical workshop in Accra, Ghana to map progress made a year after the program was launched in the country.
Since 2022, the country has been implementing the Director General’s Special Initiative for Mental Health (DG-SIMH) in four regions to address the gaps and strengthen the standard of mental health and well-being.
The five-year initiative supported by the Government of Norway and USAID seeks to get 100 million more people to access quality and affordable mental health services in 12 countries around the world, including Ghana.
Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) is enhancing the capacity of the implementing regions and partners to ensure the sustainability of the initiative and other inventions even after the implementation period.
Ghana launched the initiative in July 2022 and aims to improve access to integrated quality person-centred mental health care for an additional 5.2 million Ghanaians.
The four-day workshop saw participants taking through partnerships, resource mobilization and advocacy to strengthen their capacity to sustain their health programmes.
Noncommunicable Diseases & Risk Factors Officer at WHO Ghana, Dr Joana Ansong said, “Through the WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health, Ghana has stepped up efforts to improve mental health care. So now we are working to ensure that the significant effort being made is sustained beyond the lifespan of the initiative.”
On her part, the Deputy Director for Mental Health at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Amma Boadu lauded the foresight of WHO in seeking to enhance capacity for sustainable programming and pledged the service’s commitment to leverage the new skills to sustain health programmes at all levels.
The workshop was aimed at building the foundational knowledge and expertise of the regions to effectively pursue, secure, and manage strategic partnerships for sustainable and impactful health programs.
“This capacity will help us to address gaps in our efforts to sustain mental health programmes and other health interventions, especially at the subnational level where resources are very constrained,” noted Dr Boadu.
Participants described the workshop as timely and insightful as they were empowered with the requisite technical competence to build strong business cases for sustainable health interventions.
“This is the first time we are participating in this kind of workshop. We are ready to leverage the skills to not only mental health programmes but all other health interventions,” says Mr Edward Owusu, the Savannah Regional Mental Health Coordinator.
The status of mental health in Ghana
WHO reports that mental, neurological and substance use disorders account for more than 10% of the global disease burden.
Furthermore, the lost productivity resulting from depression and anxiety, two of the most common mental disorders, cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion each year.
Specifically, in low- and middle-income countries, more than 75% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment at all for their disorder.
In Ghana, there have been efforts by the government to improve mental healthcare services at all levels.
However, significant gaps remained, with only about 2% of Ghana’s 2.3 million people living with mental health conditions receiving psychiatric treatment and support from health facilities according to WHO.
In October 2022, ahead of the implementation in Ghana, WHO helped Ghana to develop a national implementation plan and is currently assisting the country’s six new regions in the development of their regional plans towards effective implementation.
The WHO Special Initiative for Mental Health will advance mental health policies, advocacy and human rights, and scale up quality interventions and services for individuals with mental health conditions, including substance use and neurological disorders.
For health authorities in Ghana, this initiative is a great opportunity to strengthen the mental health system whilst mobilizing communities to create an environment devoid of stigma and abuse against persons with mental health conditions.
The WHO Special Initiative on Mental Health will build on the successes of other mental health interventions such as the QualityRights Initiative, which is helping to improve the quality of care and promote the human rights of people living with mental health conditions.
For all the latest healthcare industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, and YouTube Channel, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, and like us on Facebook.
