Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate Mental Health Day with focus on making mental health and the well-being for all, a global priority.
Stakeholders are calling attention to the need for a Mental Health Review Tribunal.
The Alliance for Mental Health and Development and Basic Needs have established that persons with mental conditions in Ghana experience many health challenges in addition to their mental ill-health which is often ignored.
These include social stigma, discrimination and access to justice.
Mental Health Experts advocate adequate investment into mental health among other interventions to deal with access to justice and stigma for persons with mental ill-health.
Current statistics from the Ghana Mental Health Association and World Health Organization (WHO) suggest an estimated 3.1 million Ghanaians, representing 10% of the estimated 31 million total population, have a form of mental disorder, with about 16,000 cases reported to be severe.
As of 2021, statistics from the Ghana statistical Service suggest that about 20,000 mentally ill persons roam the streets nationwide, with 1,600 reported to be in Africa and Tema alone.