Desist from causing harm to mental patients — Dr Osei
The acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mental Health Board, Dr Akwasi Osei, has directed people in charge of prayer camps and traditional healers to desist from chaining, starving and flogging mental health patients.
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Those practices, he explained, were tantamount to infringing on the human rights of the patients.
Dr Osei gave the caution when he inaugurated a seven-member Ashanti Regional Mental Health Sub-Committee in Kumasi.
This comes to four the number of such committees so far inaugurated nationwide. The others are in the Eastern, Volta and Brong Ahafo regions.
The committee, which has a four-year mandate, is headed by Dr Kwaku Bamfo Bandoh of the Ashanti Regional Health Directorate.
Mental Health Act
The formation of the regional mental health sub-committees follows the passage of the Mental Health Act 2012 (Act 846) to give legal backing to reforms which will raise the level and quality of mental health care in the country to international standards.
At the heart of the reforms is community care and decentralisation where mental health care will be co-ordinated at the community level.
Mandate
Some of the 23-point responsibilities of the committee include co-ordinating all mental health activities in the region, both in public and private mental health facilities and at the communities including traditional and faith-based healing centres.
It will also plan and develop mental health programmes for effective implementation in the region.
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Stakeholder support
Dr Osei urged the regional committee to liaise with and lobby for support from various stakeholders including the Regional Coordinating Council, the police, traditional rulers, transport unions and landlord associations among others for effective operation.
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Peter Anarfi-Mensah, in an address read on his behalf, expressed concern over the impact of mental health on productivity and called for support from people to ensure the success of the committee.