The government has been urged to facilitate the passage of the new Mental Health Bill to address the challenges facing psychiatric hospitals in the country. The new bill, according to the Medical Director of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Dr Akwasi Osei, will give legal backing to community health care delivery and modalities for regulation of mental health practitioners in both private and public sectors. The bill, he said, will also protect the fundamental human rights of the mentally retarded by offering them equal opportunities. Speaking to the Times in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Osei noted that the bill would also help improve public perception about mental illness and reduce the ingrained stigma attached to both mental illness and mental health practitioners in the society. He mentioned some of the challenges of the hospital as the lack of staff, inadequate funding, stigmatisation and obsolete facilities. The bill also deemphasises institutional care and empower local communities to care for their mentally ill members with support from trained personnel. He was unhappy that most families after taking their relatives to the hospital failed to take them back home after they had been cured. The situation, besides causing congestion at the hospital, also puts stress on the hospital’s inadequate finances and facilities. Dr Osei urged families to take back their relatives and also give the mentally retarded the necessary assistance saying that mental illness is treatable, and asked the public not to neglect them. Source: The Ghanaian Times