Placing mental health under NHIS good move

The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes mental health as a "state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to his or her community".

Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception and behaviour.

Health experts say it includes subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence and self-actualisation of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others.

Available literature describes some early signs associated with mental health as sleep irritation, lack of energy, lack of appetite, thinking of harming oneself or others, self-isolation, and frequently zoning out.

It is estimated that one in every eight people in the world lives with a mental disorder and this involves significant disturbances in thinking, emotional regulation or behaviour.

The WHO estimates that approximately,13 per cent of the population in Ghana suffer from a mental disorder, of which three per cent suffer from a severe mental disorder and the other 10 per cent suffer from a moderate to mild mental disorder.

Mental health care remains a challenge, with a 98 per cent treatment gap. 

Among patients seeking treatment for mental health issues, schizophrenia, substance abuse and mood disorders are the top three diagnoses, although a large percentage of people receive no specific diagnosis. 

Since 2022, the country has been implementing the Director General’s Special Initiative for Mental Health (DG-SIMH) to address the gaps and strengthen the standard of mental health and well-being.

The five-year initiative supported by the Government of Norway and USAID seeks to get 100 million more people to access quality and affordable mental health services in 12 countries around the world, including Ghana.

Ghana was selected to be part of the WHO’s Director General’s Special Initiative for Mental Health in 2021 to support systems transformation and scaling up of mental health services.

The Initiative seeks to ensure 5.2 million more Ghanaians have access to integrated, quality, person-centred mental health care in accordance with the Universal Health Coverage roadmap for Ghana.  

In January 2023, United Nations member countries urged our government to address the shackling and inhumane treatment of people with mental health conditions in its recommendations made at the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Ghana.

It said the country failed to meet its own commitment to protect the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities who are held in shackles in faith-based and traditional healing centres.

It further said that the inhumane practice of shackling existed due to inadequate support and mental health services, as well as widespread beliefs that stigmatised people with psychosocial disabilities.

Thankfully, all this will be a thing of the past as the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on December 12, 2023 announced that treatment for mental health would now be added to the benefits of the National Health Insurance Scheme from next year.

The move, he says, in addition to the construction of Agenda 111 health facilities and other measures, were part of the government’s commitment to improving access to professional, accessible and affordable quality health services for the Ghanaian.

The Daily Graphic commends the government for taking such a huge initiative as this will help move many of the people off the streets.

Truth is, government’s quest to add mental health to the benefits of the scheme is welcome news for many in the country as this is long overdue.

It will also help to better resource the few psychiatric hospitals in the country to provide adequate care for people who have mental health issues. 

However, we also call on the government to establish the levy envisaged under the 2012 Mental Health Act to fund mental health services as a matter of priority.

Also, we call for the development of voluntary and accessible community-based mental health and support services so that families do not resort to shackling their relatives.