The Accra Psychiatric Hospital has instituted initiatives to reduce the gap between persons who have access to healthcare and those who do not.

Through this new initiative, individuals with mental health issues are being encouraged to seek medical help to avoid running a crisis.

As the world celebrates October as the mental health month, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital has begun rolling out a free call-in service to receive complaints from the general public on their health issues.

Depression and mental health disorders keep emerging as both a public health and occupational health challenge.

According to doctors at the facility, seeking medical help should not be seen as a sign of weakness.

The service creates a one-stop platform that seeks to address the questions and concerns of individuals who call the designated numbers.

"There are things that we are doing now to try and bridge the gap between those who have and those who don’t have. For example, for this mental health week, we are instituting a free calling program so you can call.

"There are doctors, nurses, psychologists and other members of the PR team who will be available to answer your questions and take care of you," a doctor with the facility, Dr Victor Ogoe, divulged.

Speaking on Prime Morning on Wednesday, October 13, a medical practitioner at the hospital, Dr Emefa Dzordzorme, bemoaned the lack of relevant infrastructure at the facility, adding that it mostly affects their service delivery.

"Accra psychiatric hospital runs on state funding, basically, but we need to institute new ideas. We have the ideas; we need funding. So it’s a call for sponsorship."

"We need computers; we need headsets; we need resources at this facility. We already have some corporate sponsorship, and it will be our absolute delight to welcome all corporate bodies unto this system," she told JoyNews' Benjamin Akakpo.

Individuals who wish to reach out to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital for assistance can do so by calling 057 223 2619, 050 185 9321, or 059 940 2207 between 8 am and 5 pm daily.

Urgent need for a database of mental health cases

A Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr Seth Asafo, earlier this week said different policy directions must be considered to curb mental disorders in children and the larger population across the country.

According to him, there is an urgent need to get a database of people suffering from various forms of psychotic disorders.

This year's World Mental Health week is pegged on the theme, "Mental Health in an Unequal World."