The Alliance for Mental Health and Development (Alliance), a network of CSOs, NGOs, CBOs, and concerned individuals, has called on the government to include mental health treatment in the NHIS benefit package by October 10, 2024, which is marked as World Mental Health Day.

"This will ensure access to mental health services for all," the Alliance said in a communique issued at the end of its annual review and planning meeting and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The communique said people with mental health conditions and their primary caregivers are generally poorer than the general population with a 95 percent treatment gap.

“The requirement that people with mental health conditions are to pay for essential treatment at the point of service delivery, is at best unrealistic, as a majority of them are below the poverty line, earning less than the daily minimum wage," the organization said.

The Alliance expressed worry that promises by state officials to include mental health services in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) benefits package are yet to materialise, excluding many from benefiting from necessary care.

The Alliance also supported the call by the Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations for the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development to sign and launch the revised DACF Disability Fund Disbursement and Management Guidelines.

Earlier, on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, selected members of the GFD picketed at the premises of the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection.

Information available to the Ghana News Agency on the signing of the District Assembly Common Fund for persons with Disability is that the Minister of Gender has signed the revised Disability Fund Disbursement and Management Guidelines.

The Alliance urged the government to make sustained investments in mental healthcare services and ensure that social safety nets like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme effectively target and cover the poorest of the poor and vulnerable people, particularly those with mental health and psychosocial disabilities.

They expressed commitment to collaborating with the government, institutions, and individuals to promote mental health, well-being, and human rights for all, especially those with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.