Non-Governmental Organization, Forever True Friends Foundation has donated assorted items to the Pantang Hospital.
The donation forms part of their annual donation exercise they embark on for the patients at the facility.
Items donated include several bags of rice, bags of sugar, assorted drinks, bags of toilet rolls, towels, sponges, packs of toothbrushes, detergents, bags of washing powder, hand sanitizers, kettles, an ice chest, brooms, slippers, bed sheets, among others.
Presenting the items to the facility, the Founder and CEO of the NGO, Mrs. Jane Gerbs said they have for over 7 years donated and supported the facility and inmates.
She indicated that mental health patients are also part of society and should be given the needed support, love, care, and compassion so they don’t feel neglected.
According to her, FTFF is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which seeks to provide a social support system pivoted on friendship and voluntary services to organisations and institutions while empowering members and the society as a whole.
In this regard, they took it upon themselves to support the facility every year through the benevolence of their dedicated members.
She bemoaned stigmatization and neglect of mental health patients, a situation she noted is not the best.
In 2019, the NGO launched a campaign to have the facility refurbished.
One of the main areas they had plans of renovating was the theatre.
This was because the hospital sometimes lose its patients due to the unavailability of certain equipment needed to for an operation.
Recounting the initiative, she said their campaign has led to some renovations at the hospital.
She believes they have done a lot and their efforts have forced the appropriate institutions to consider resolving the changes confronting the hospital.
According to her, the Psychiatric hospital needs not only medicine, food, or clothing but other logistics to help care for patients at the hospital.
In her view, Mental Health is a neglected area in healthcare in Ghana but with the needed support, the hospital will be able to care for patients.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of the NGO, Ing. Victor Owusu, admonished Ghanaians to take mental health seriously.
Mr Owusu observed that the Mental Health was important because it is estimated over 650,000 are suffering from a severe mental disorder and a further 2,166, 000 are suffering from a moderate to mild mental disorder.
He argued that Mental health care is becoming a critical international concern, but as a country we are still straining to attend to mental health needs of our suffering and stigmatized citizens across the country.
Receiving the items on behalf of the hospital, Principal Health Nurse, Seth Boakye expressed gratitude to the NGO.
He said the facility usually depends on donations from groups and organizations to help manage patients aside from the support government.
He expressed worry over the failure of families to come for their relatives after they have been treated.
There are others whose families cannot also be traced.
These category of persons he added are taken care of by the hospital.
The mental illness he noted is just like any other illness and not caused by curses or black magic.
Science he said has proven that these assumptions are false.
He said they are people who have suffered mental illness and recovered
Mental Health Data
According to a study in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO) over 1.1 billion people had a mental or substance use disorder globally. WHO in 2015, estimated that 8 million people die each year due to mental illness. That is, 8 million deaths could be averted if people with mental illness were to die at the same rate as the general population.
Recent data collected in 2018 by the Ghana Health Services revealed that about 41% of Ghanaians have some psychological disorder while 32.4% live with mental disease.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com
