By Dennis Peprah
Sunyani, April 22, GNA – Studies have confirmed more than three million people nationwide living with various mental health conditions, the Coalition of NGOs in Health has said.
The coalition said the rising cases of mental health were worrying and alarming, and therefore called on all stakeholders to pool ideas and resources together and help bring the situation under control.
Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chairman of the Bono Regional chapter of the Coalition who made the call urged the government to prioritise mental health, identify and tackle the immediate and remote causes contributing to the surge in mental health conditions.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr Ahenu said most of the mental health conditions could be partly attributed to emotional problems emanating from marriages, broken homes, extreme poverty, and sexual exploitation and abuse.
He was speaking to the GNA after the coalition held its first quarter meeting for the year and to discuss pertinent issues in the health sector in the region, saying “inwardly many people are going through emotional trauma.”
Mr Ahenu said proactive measures ought to be put in place to arrest the rise in substance abuse among the youth, saying, if nothing was done, many of the youth would become lunatics.
He also expressed worry about the soaring cases of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and attendant deaths at major health facilities, saying studies showed NCDs contributed about 43 percent of deaths nationwide.
Mr Ahenu said cases of diabetes and hypertension were high due to poor eating habits, lack of regular exercises and unhealthy lifestyles of many Ghanaians and encouraged everybody to do regular medical checkups to know their health condition.
He said the coalition planned to undertake health outreach exercises to intensify public awareness creation on substance abuse, alcoholism, and called for support from the Ghana Health Service and civil society organisations to achieve useful outcomes.
Mr Ahenu said maternal and child mortality remained another daunting challenge in the country that required urgent attention to help the nation to the goal three of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The global goal three enjoins nations around the globe to put in place measures for enhanced good health and wellbeing for all by 2030.
Mr Ahenu therefore, advised pregnant women to attend regular antenatal and post-natal clinics and endeavour to give birth at health facilities.
He said the coalition in the region had set up projects and funding raising committees to mobilize funds for its activities in the health sectors and called for support from corporate bodies, religious organisations and wealthy individuals.
GNA