Promoting Mental Health as a Key Priority for Sustainable Development in Ghana

Mental health is an essential element of health and equally important for the healthy functioning of families, communities and society. In 2005, the World Health Organization declared mental health as a universal human right. In spite of this right, mental health related problems affect 10% of the world population at any given time. About 75% of this worldwide disease burden is in the poor countries. On the average, about 21.6 million people live in Ghana and about 650,000 of these are suffering from a severe mental disorder. This shows that poor mental health is increasingly becoming a menace in the Ghanaian society. Therefore, the objective of this research is to assess the attitude of Ghanaian health care workers towards mental illness and to determine resource availability. The study adopted cross sectional study design and utilized quantitative data collection. Inferential statistics, specifically, correlation was used to determine the possible relationships of factors and mental disorders. Results of the study showed that 62.2% will hide mentally unstable due to social stigma and discrimination. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between attitude and gender toward mental health, r = .205, n = 250 and P < 0.01. Also, 30% and 32% respectfully stated that mental health services are not easily accessible or affordable. These results formed basis of the need for action plans to promote mental health in Ghana in order to meet the sustainable development goals.