Programme Coordinator for Basic Needs-Ghana, Accra, Dominic Wunigura is calling on the government to fulfil its budgetary promise in 2020 and 2021 to construct, complete and furnish a psychiatric hospital in northern Ghana.
If the government is concerned about the state of mental health in northern Ghana, the stated hospital should be catered for completely in the 2023 Budget and Economic Policy.
Dominic Wunigura, Project Coordinator for Basic Needs Ghana, Accra said this when he spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show today, Wednesday, November 23, 2024.
“In 2020, the government’s budget mentioned supporting the establishment of a psychiatric facility to cover the northern zone. That didn’t happen in 2020. In 2021, it was mentioned again. When we as advocates followed up, we were made to understand that the 2 psychiatric facilities that are expected to be established, are part of the Agenda 111. It has been two years and we have not seen any site mentioned as where these facilities are going to be put up. We are expecting that that should be reiterated in the budget to be read so that we can be assured that at least, in this 2023 that we are going into, these facilities would be put up.”
“It is very important to us stakeholders because we believe that a special facility like that for mental health is going to attract specialists into our area,” he said.
According to Mr. Wunigura, in the entire northern Ghana, there are only 3 specialist psychiatrists working, a situation that could be remedied by the construction of the specialist hospitals.
Meanwhile, a 10-bed capacity psychiatric hospital known as the Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital Bolgatanga has been established in the Upper East Regional capital to provide mental health care to people in need.
The facility comprises a male and female ward, two consulting rooms, OPD, records, and an accountant’s office.
It is located at Bukere, a suburb of Bolgatanga, the Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital shares premises with the Presbyterian Health Centre.
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), Right Reverend Professor Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante said the establishment of the psychiatric hospital will augment the government’s efforts to manage mental health cases in the country.
Rt. Rev. Mante has therefore called for equal healthcare opportunities should be given to persons living with mental health conditions.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
