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Mr. Pious Tay, Mental Health Coordinator at the Tema Metro Health Directorate, says mentally challenged people roaming the streets cannot be admitted to the hospital due to resource constraints.
Mr. Tay revealed that there were no free services for any person with mental illness in all public mental hospitals, which was why street nomads were left without any attention.
Street nomads were mostly sufferers of severe mental illnesses that required long-term treatment; therefore, for someone to be admitted, some responsibility and resources must be provided before they could be given admission, he said.
Mr. Tay who was speaking at the Ghana News Agency weekly health information platform dubbed “Your Health: Our Collective Responsibility,” said someone must be responsible for their health care, food, and shelter.
He noted that even when families sent their mentally sick relatives to the hospital, they only gave them first aid, and asked that they were taken back home because of a lack of accommodation.
Expressing disappointment on the part of government and society for neglecting the nomads, he said there was no willingness to channel resources to support them, citing the usual complaints about budgetary constraints.
Mr Tay suggested that the Metropolis could engage residents to understand the role and responsibility by allocating a token of the levies to build a facility.
Meanwhile, the Tema Metro Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service has launched a month of relentless public advocacy to mark the World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD).
The WSPD is for awareness creation and observed annually on September 10th, to provide worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides, with various activities around the world since 2003.
Dr Sally Quartey, the Tema Metro Health Director, explained that WSPD was first introduced by the International Association of Suicide Prevention (IASP) and said this year’s awareness creation was on the global theme: “Creating Hope through Action.”
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