In October 2022, a 10-bed capacity psychiatric hospital known as the Presbyterian Psychiatric Hospital Bolgatanga was 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 to be given to persons living with mental health conditions.
“Our church does not see persons living with mental health conditions as less human and we see them as equally deserving of every first treatment anyone is entitled to. We see their conditions as any other disease, such as malaria or headache, which can and should be treated. As a church, we believe in prayer as well as medical care. We believe that there could be spiritual and physical causes for mental health conditions. To this end, we have adopted a policy guideline that makes it mandatory for all our prayer camps and centres to be affiliated with health facilities so that people with cases such as mental health will receive both spiritual and medical care at the same time.”
The facility, months after its commissioning, is operating in full swing, according to the psychiatrist stationed at the facility, Dr. Dennis Daliri. He made this known when he spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith today, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, on the Day Break Upper East Region.
“It has been okay. We have been getting a good number of cases at the facility. It is just that in the region, people still do not see mental health as a big deal, and so we realise that traffic is a bit lower than we expected. Gradually, I know we will be picking up,” he said.
It has been realised, according to Dr. Daliri, that a chunk of the cases attended to are related to addiction.
“A lot of the cases have been addiction. You have alcohol addiction and addiction to other substances like marijuana and other drugs like perthidine, opioids, and all. A good number of people also come with psychosis. I think I have seen a few suicide cases too.”
Dr. Daliri explained that the treatment of these diseases is a mix of counselling and medicine.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
