The Executive Secretary of the organisation, Dan Taylor, who made the call, said the fund would help to cater for people with mental illness and encourage more families to seek professional care for their relatives with mental issues.

He appealed to the government to adopt the proposal by the Mental Health Authority of levying workers on government payroll 10Gp every month as seed capital for the fund.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a community outreach at Adankwame in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District, Mr Taylor said with the current number of employees on the government’s payroll, the state should be able to raise about GH¢400,000 a month from the 10Gp levy.

“That is something that we think the government should consider because once it starts from that point, it goes beyond.” He said although the law prescribed for a fund to be established to cater for mental health treatment, “as of now, the sources of raising money into that fund is still not determined. So people will still have to go to the hospital and buy the medication”.

Funding, Awareness

Per section 82 of Act 846 (2012), the sources of funding for the Mental Health Fund include voluntary contributions to the fund from individuals, organisations and the private sector; money approved by Parliament for payment into the Fund; grants from bilateral and multilateral sources; donations and gifts; and money from any other source approved by the Minister responsible for Finance.

The MindFreedom Ghana Executive Secretary said while awaiting the setting up of the fund, there was a need to educate people on the conditions and the need to take steps to prevent it.

Mr Taylor said education and awareness creation were very important aspects of their organisation to impart knowledge to people on what they needed to know about mental health conditions and what they needed to know when they come across people with such conditions.

Triggers

The Ashanti Regional Mental Health Coordinator, Faustina Nuako, said everyone could fall victim to mental health conditions as the causes were very common including anxiety, overthinking, depression, drug abuse and alcohol consumption.

She said even promotion or demotion at the workplace could trigger the condition in people and as such, urged Ghanaians to take enough rest, eat a balanced diet and seek help when in trouble or difficulty.

She said the condition was no respecter of person or class and called on all and sundry not to treat people with mental conditions with disdain. Ms Nuako said currently, there are seven centres in the region where people with mental health conditions are treated.