[ 2015-04-22 ]

‘Public office holders must undergo psychological screening’
The Chief Psychiatrist of the Ghana Health Service
(GHS), Dr Akwasi Osei, has suggested that public
office holders should be made to undergo
psychological screening to determine whether they
are mentally fit to work in the interest of the
country.

He said it was only psychologically sound public
officers who could come up with sound policies and
laws, and sign agreements needed to advance the
country’s socio-economic development.

Speaking at the launch of the first anniversary
commemoration of the Mental Health Board in Accra
yesterday, Dr Osei said some of the laws passed,
policies and agreements signed by public officials
raised questions about the mental state of such
people when they were taking such decisions.

“They have to go for psychological screening to
ensure that they are of sound mind. When you look
at the policies, laws and international
agreements, there is something not right up
there,” he said.

The Mental Health Board is the governing body of
the Mental Health Authority (MHA), which was
established by the Mental Health Act 846 of 2012.

Activities lined up for the week-long celebration
include a public lecture, launch of the Mental
Health Fund, Muslim and Christian prayers and
services.

Workplace psychologists

Dr Osei, who is also the acting Chief Executive
Officer of the MHA, suggested that psychologists
should be employed at workplaces to offer their
services to workers.

He said the psychologists could address
psychological challenges facing workers and deter
depressed workers from engaging in criminal acts
or committing suicide.

Dr Osei added that it was the objective of the MHA
to clear all the streets in the country of mental
patients within the next two years.

He revealed that nine out of 10 patients who were
picked from the streets regained their sanity.

Statistics

A study conducted in 2009 showed that 41 per cent
of Ghanaians had psychological distress. Nineteen
per cent of the distress was moderate to severe;
enough to be considered mental disorder.

The 19 per cent translates into about 4.75 million
of the 25 million population. Of this figure, it
is estimated that 700,000 had a major disorder,
including schizophrenia and other psychotic
conditions.

Dr Osei indicated that the number of people with
psychological distress constituted a great loss to
the state.

“If we could prevent the 19 per cent of the
population from developing this distress and
disorder, we will save ourselves, as a nation, the
loss of seven per cent of GDP”, he said.

Policy on alcohol

Dr Osei indicated that the Ministry of Health was
coming out with a policy to regulate the sale,
advertising and use of alcohol.

He said under the policy, advertisements on
alcohol would be restricted to specific points in
time, while celebrities would not be allowed to
feature in those advertisements.

Source - Starrfmonline

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