Psychotropic medicines often administered to persons living with mental illness are in short supply in the Upper East Region.
At a sensitisation workshop organised by Basic Needs Ghana for Mental Health Volunteers across the region, it was disclosed that all the district health facilities and the Regional hospital in Bolgatanga do not have the medicines.
It has also been identified that there are no proper designated wards for mentally ill patients in all the facilities.
The Project seeks to improve on maternal health and livelihood outcomes among poor and vulnerable women and girls in the Upper East, Upper West, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Northern and Greater Accra Regions through enhancing quality and accessibility of maternal mental health services.
This, Basic Needs Ghana, organisers of the workshop believes will be achieved through supporting mental health service users and their care-givers.
Bernard Azure, Programmes Officer at Basic Needs Ghana in the Upper East Region, said even though his outfit has created enough awareness on the need for mental health patients to access health care at the various health facilities in the region, psychotropic medicines is still a challenge.
Participants of the workshop who are people living with mental illness called on the media to embark on advocacy on mental health to ensure government operationalize the mental health law to train more specialists.
