The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that about 2.4 million Ghanaians could be suffering from various degrees of mental illness.
According to WHO representative to Ghana, Professor Francis Kasalo, mental health issues are on the rise in Ghana.
In an interview on JoyNews, Kasalo said “It is in Ghana for example out of the population of almost thirty million plus it is estimated that almost 2.4 million have a form of mental illness.
That’s not a small number and if you are looking at that number why are we not investing in ensuring that those people receive appropriate care? So the numbers are huge.”
He indicated that a major factor complicating the mental healthcare delivery in Ghana is the attitude of the general public to the health condition which is most likely to be treated as a light-hearted matter.
Ghana’s mental health service system faces inadequately qualified mental health professionals. There are only 39 psychiatrists for the entire population.
Mental health is one of the least talked about issues in Ghanaian social and family circles. The subject is hushed, a situation that has arisen from fear of stigmatization.
