By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Dec. 24, GNA – The KGL Foundation under its Mental Health Index (MHI) Initiative has presented essential food and sanitary supplies to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital worth GH₵500,000
The items are bags of rice, maize, beans, soya beans sugar, gallons of cooking oil and palm oil, as well as 1,000 rolls of toilet paper, 1,000 packs of paper towels and 100 packs of adult diapers.
As part of the support to the hospital, the Foundation plans to renovate several units within the hospital to create a more conducive environment for mental health care.
The Foundation also intended to procure an Electroencephalogram (EEG) machine for the hospital to help in the treatment of these patients, laptops computers, solar power system and Air conditioners
Nii Ankonu Annorbah-Sarpei, Programmes Manager of the KGL Foundation, said the Foundation intended to get the hospital a signpost to show that they were the leading facility in Ghana.
“We look forward to helping the hospital more and renovating this place and working with them to change the image of mental health in Ghana,” he said.
He said their MHI was developed to address, raise awareness, demystify myths and act as a repository of knowledge on mental health issues in Ghana.
As a digital approach to addressing mental health challenges in the country, it was launched in April 2023 and has so far been piloted in a number of second cycle schools in the country.
Dr Kwadwo Marfo Obeng, the Medical Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, commended the Management of the Foundation for their continuous support to the facility.
He said the integration of EEG technology with Electroconvulsive Therapy machines was expected to revolutionise the treatment of mental health conditions, particularly for vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and new fathers dealing with postpartum depression or psychosis.
He said there were over 200 patients under treatment and the Foundation’s support to take care of them was commendable and it meant more to the hospital than could be put into words.
The Director said it could be very difficult to find the resources to buy these things that have been donated to them.
“In addition to that, the fact that they are looking to help us modernize so that we can appeal to a broader array of the Ghanaian population dealing with mental health issues.
He said for mental health care to really have its impact on the Ghanaian economy, people who are not severely ill, dealing with depression, anxiety needed to be attended to medically.
“These are the people who really need to be reached and treated, so that they can go back to work and keep contributing to Ghana’s economy,” he added.
He said the Foundation was looking to redevelop some of their spaces, ODP department space, to make it more appealing to the average Ghanaian who was not just feeling 100 per cent to come in and access some of their services.
“So, I think helping us to rethink how mental health care should be delivered in Ghana is a huge thing that the KGL is going to do for us,” he added.
He urged the Foundation to develop the Mental index into a mobile app to enable the young generations, who prefer app-based access to their services.
GNA