Three Rotary Clubs headline mental health fair to uplift Pantang Hospital’s Occupational Therapy Unit

Three clubs of Rotary International Ghana, namely the Rotary Clubs of Accra Morning-Tide, Accra West and the Rotaract Club of Accra Adabraka, joined hands with the Pantang Hospital to uplift the face of mental health delivery.

Initiated with a fair, the joint programme is to target, in particular, the Occupational Therapy Unit of the Pantang Hospital with the objective of raising funds for a sitting area to encourage outdoor therapy through vocational experiences in dressmaking, weaving, ceramics, etc.

Many thronged the enclave of the therapy unit on Saturday, October 15 and contributed their quota by buying raffle tickets and making donations.

The Occupational Therapy Department, which is aimed at getting mental health patients regain their functionality effectively in the community after discharge from the hospital, is now short-lived due to the lack of resources to effectively carry out effective interventions including the dilapidated state of the building, according to findings by the Rotarians.

Rotarian Jamal, in his welcome address, made it clear that "we (the three rotary clubs) have chosen to support mental health because it lacks the maximum attention needed for its fulfilment."

He explained that the move has become necessary because mental health is often a neglected area of health in several communities with a lot of stigmas attached to it due to a lack of information and sometimes superstition, making it difficult for mental health patients to gain the acceptance and support they need to recover.

In his remarks, the head of the host and beneficiary facility, Dr Frank Barning, Chief Executive of Pantang Hospital, after highlighting some of the overwhelming challenges associated with mental illness, such as lower productivity in national growth causing adverse effects on the country's GDP, intimated that "Despite all these statistics, MH (mental health) continues to be the most neglected non-communicable disease globally and even worse in sub-Saharan Africa."

"In Ghana, only 2.2% of the total health budget is spent on MH. For example, this year, Pantang Hospital has received only 7% of its total allocated budget and already, we are in October. This clearly paints a picture of where our priorities lie as a country," he lamented.

The Pantang hospital donated GHS2,000 and the Chief Executive donated GHS1,000 from his personal coffers.

Also, delivering a speech on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, Dr. Amankwah Arthur bemoaned that, "Mental health has often been seen as secondary to physical health and therefore has not been given enough priority. This is the underlining concept underpinning the year’s mental health day’s theme celebration, "Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority. This theme serves as a clarion call for all of us to prioritise our mental health and well-being."

In his estimation, about 1 billion people around the world live with a mental health or substance use disorder, which comes at a cost to the affected people, societies, and the world economy.

Referring to the figures by the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Amankwah Arthur indicated that "lost productivity resulting from depression and anxiety alone costs the global economy US$1 trillion each year."

On his part, Mr. Dave Amankwah, the District Governor Nominee of the Rotary International District 9102 who donated GHS5,000 to aid the initiative emphasized "Our presence here is such an example, a clear manifestation of one of our objectives in delivering and supporting health-related projects in our community."

According to him, the fair also illustrates Rotary’s motto, which is "Service above Self"—to serve their communities in whatever and whichever way possible without being mindful of the costs involved.

The commitment shown by the three Rotary Clubs forms part of the year's overall mental health agenda, which aligns with the Mental Health Day agenda, marked on October 10 as an opportunity to do good, his speech highlighted.

Delivering the main speech, themed "I am not my mental illness and my mental illness is not me," Dr. Mrs. Grace Owusu Aboagye, from Refresh Foundation, who graced the event as the guest speaker, pleaded with everyone to change the ill-treatment towards mental health patients.

She wants them treated well because, aside from the brain dysfunction, everything else about them is still intact just as an active person.

"Today, I join Rotary to send out two messages to all Ghanaians and the global community at large. First of all, a person experiencing mental illness is not a mental illness, just as the injuries of Usain Bolt do not change him into an injury. Neither that of Christiano Ronaldo, Messi or Serena Williams. The sports industry has evolved to overcome every challenge possible to keep on thriving.

"We all here can do the same for mental health. I will encourage all to search for the person within when interacting with a person with lived experience of mental illness. Make it your heart's desire to nurture, build, support, encourage, and enlighten the individual. I am not my mental illness," she reiterated.

She told people living with mental illness, their relatives, and all Ghanaians that "symptoms of poor mental health should not take over your life or that of loved ones. The goal of treatment is not to silence the person or keep him or her locked up but to return the person to occupational and social functioning."

Reiterating the need to halt the inhumane treatment towards mental health patients, Dr. Owusu Aboagye asserted that every person is prone to the disease.

“When stress and physical illnesses like hypertension and diabetes disturb the beautiful rhythm of our brain and body, we end up with mental illness. One in two people who develop hypertension or diabetes will go on to develop depression and other mental disorders. We are all at risk," she stressed.

According to her, "the good news is that the brain can regenerate itself to alter its functions and behaviour."

Bringing her speech to an end, she shared with the gathering the real-life story of a renowned mathematician, Dr. John Forbes Nash Jr., who, despite having mental health challenges, won the Nobel Prize twice in his lifetime (1994 and 2015) due to the love and care shown him by his wife and relatives, and this rejuvenated her call for the good treatment of mental health patients, for they can be very useful to society's growth.

On the sidelines, Mr. Prince Ackuaku, the president of the Rotary Club of Accra-West, who anchored the fair, explained that the purpose of the fair was to create awareness about mental health since it appears to have been sidelined in most societies.

For the sake of financial constraints, as he projected the total cost to be about USD90,000, Mr. Ackuaku intimated that the Rotarians will, for the time being, only focus on Pantang Hospital, specifically to concentrate on the rehabilitation of its occupational therapy unit to aid smooth mental health service delivery.

At the fair, Rotarians, mental health stakeholders, health professionals, some mental health patients, as well as members of the media were present.

Rotary International is a non-political, non-religious, and mainly humanitarian service organisation that brings together business and professional leaders in order to provide community service, promote integrity, and advance goodwill, peace and understanding in the world.