President Akufo-Addo officially opened the newly built structure on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, which will house the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry going forward.
The president called the building impressive during the commissioning ceremony.
It is a memorial to Squadron Leader Melody Danquah, a trailblazing woman who made history as the first female military pilot in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s, and serves the University of Ghana Medical School as well as Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
He claims that “her story serves as an inspiration not only to those living with mental illness, but also to those who persevere, thrive, and achieve their fullest potential in life.”
The Melody has a conference room, a lecture hall for students, faculty offices for research, a calm waiting area for teaching and learning, chic consulting rooms, therapy rooms, a treatment room, a pharmacy, and an observation room.
According to him, this structure stands for a lovely collaboration between the public and private sectors. It demonstrates what can be accomplished when specialists collaborate with the business sector and the latter is made aware of its obligations. And as a result, the government’s dedication to improving mental healthcare in Ghana is strengthened by this relationship.
7% of GDP is spent on mental health.
The president revealed during the ceremony that our GDP is consumed by mental health.
It made reference to a research that three institutions had carried out.
The University of Ghana’s Department of Psychiatry and Yale University’s Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER) worked together to perform the study.
The survey also revealed that only 3% of patients with mental illnesses received care in traditional psychiatric institutions.
According to the report, poor mental health costs average Ghanaians 7% of the nation’s production.
The President said his administration has prioritized mental health and increased spending by more than 200 percent over the previous six years to promote comprehensive care, helping to address the issues raised by the study.
The Mental Health Act 846, which was passed in 2012, has resulted in a more coordinated and effective approach to mental health care, enabling people with mental health disorders to live in their communities with the support of their relatives and friends, President Akufo-Addo continued.
He clarified that the Human Rights Act was centered on ensuring that people with mental illnesses were treated with respect and dignity.
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He declared that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), healthcare infrastructure, and general healthcare service would all continue to be improved by the government.
He acknowledged that he sought to add the more severe mental health problems to the NHIS list out of concern for justice and equality, in order that part of the patients’ costs would be reimbursed by the program.
