Accra, Oct. 12, GNA - Speakers at this year's Mental Health Day celebration on Monday called on government to pass the new Mental Health Bill into law to improve mental health care in the country. They noted that the law would promote and provide humane mental health care including prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in least restrictive environment.

It would also regulate the practice of mental health practitioners. The celebration is under the theme: "Mental Health in Primary Care, Enhancing Mental Health."

It would enable the public to recognise the nature of mental illness, create the awareness and appreciate the risk in one out of four chances in a person's life to be afflicted with mental illness.

Nii Tetteh Adjabeng I, Adabraka Atukpai Mantse, noted that the bill would be submitted to Parliament for discussion before recess this year. He said depression which was prevalent among women after childbirth, should be recognised in the community and given effective treatment early. Nii Adjabeng expressed concern about the increase in the commission of suicide partly as a result of drug abuse and alcoholism and noted that these signs should be detected early and treated.

World Health Organisation Representative in Ghana, Mr. Daniel Kertesz, said about 50 per cent of all mental disorders begun before the person attained 14 years and one out of five children and adolescent in the world were estimated to have mental disorders. He appealed to government to facilitate the passing into law the bill on mental health to increase the number of schools, trained mental health personnel, admission for community psychiatric nurses and training of middle level manpower (Medical assistants) at the Kintampo School. Dr. Kertesz said integrating mental health into primary health care was an ideal way to close the treatment gap and ensure that people accessed the needed mental health care.

Chief Psychiatrist Akwasi Osei called for the passage of the bill adding: "to ensure improvement in mental health care in the country, we have no choice but to pass the bill."

He announced that three psychiatrists had completed their training and hopefully, they would be motivated to join the profession. Dr. Osei deplored the misunderstanding and misinformation about mental illness and the stigma associated with it.