The Mental Health Authority in the Ashanti Region is calling on the government to deploy more mental health specialists and nurses to strengthen mental health care delivery in the region.

According to the Ashanti Regional Director of Psychiatric Services at the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Francis Oppong, although there are trained nurses supporting mental health care, the region lacks enough recognized specialists to provide professional supervision and treatment.

He said advocacy on mental health has become challenging due to inadequate logistics and funding. He noted that outreach programmes on television, radio, and in marketplaces are often impeded by the lack of materials and resources to support such activities.

He therefore appealed to the government to provide funds and logistics to drive effective public education and advocacy on mental health issues in the region.

Dr. Oppong further indicated that infrastructure remains a major challenge, making it difficult to admit and properly manage patients with mental health conditions.

"If the nurses are motivated, we can do more because we don't take resources from people to do such work, if I'm called to a radio station or TV station, I go with my own resources. If some funds can be set aside to motivate and support mental health nurses"

He advised the general public to visit health facilities for regular check-ups and urged against stigmatizing persons living with mental health conditions.

"I want to advise the public that whenever our behavior changes our functions are affected, whether it's relationships Wise or our education if you are students or our work the first place to seek help is mental health,

Meanwhile, the Ashanti Regional Director of Health Services, Dr. Fred Adomako Boateng, said nurses under the mental health unit are receiving support through the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to improve their well-being.

"We have set up Employees Assistance Program for nurses and doctors who take proper care of the mental health patients and also need time to check their health status all the time"

He disclosed that the government is constructing a Regional Mental Health Facility at Onwe in the Ejisu Municipality to improve mental health service delivery in the Ashanti Region.