The Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, has urged society to desist from all forms of discrimination and stigmatisation against mental patients.
He said people suffering from mental illnesses enjoyed the same rights and privileges as any other citizen and as such ought to be respected and protected.
�Persons with mental illness are not different from you and me. This is because anyone of us can be affected by mental problems and so let us treat them with love and support them as they receive healing.�
Alhaji Limuna said this in a speech read on his behalf by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sagnarigu, Mr Alhassan Mohammed Sorugodow, at a durbar held in Tamale to mark the celebration of this year�s World Health Mental Day in the region. It was organised by Basic Needs �Ghana and the United Kingdom Aid (UKaid).
The theme for the occasion was; �Living a healthy life with schizophrenia in Ghana, a concern for all�.
Alhaji Limuna said in 2012, the NDC government, under the leadership of Professor J.E.A Mills, initiated the mental health bill.
He said even though the law had not been passed, certain key aspects such as the establishment of a mental health authority and a board to govern it had been done to make way for easy implementation when authorised.
The Rector of the Tamale Polytechnic, Mr Salifu Abdulai Sorugu, who chaired the function, called on the government to provide resources for the support of the mentally ill.
He also advised parents and caretakers of people suffering from schizophrenia to seek early medical care since it was curable when detected at an early stage.
Mr Badimak Peter Yaro, Executive Director of Basic Needs-Ghana, said the organisation had since its inception, played pivotal roles in support of people living with schizophrenia and other mental health disorders so that they could live healthy lives.
�Schizophrenia is a common mental disorder that is characterised by abnormal social behaviour and failure to recognise what is real. Common symptoms associated with the condition include false beliefs, unclear or confused thought processes, and hallucinations,� he said.
He said shortages in the supply and availability of psychotropic medicines in the various psychiatric hospitals posed a threat to medical staff. He, therefore, urged the government to focus more attention on providing more psychotropic drugs to the mental hospitals.
A resident psychiatrist and a senior lecturer at the medical school of the University for Development Studies, Dr Ahmed Soori, said one per cent of the population was schizophrenic.
Dr Soori said further that unborn children stood a 12-per cent chance of becoming schizophrenic from a mother and 47 per cent chance of getting this brain disease if both parents were suffering from it.
He charged parents and caretakers of schizophrenics to not beat them under the false belief that it was caused by the devil or a dwarf. Rather, he said, it was a brain disease caused by chemical changes in it.
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