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Dr Akwasi Osei (middle), the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, addressing the press conference. With him are Madam Estelle Appiah (right), Board Chair of the MHA, and Mr Yaw Agyei-Wiredu, Director of Finance, MHA.  Picture: Patrick Dickson
Dr Akwasi Osei (middle), the Chief Executive of the Mental Health Authority, addressing the press conference. With him are Madam Estelle Appiah (right), Board Chair of the MHA, and Mr Yaw Agyei-Wiredu, Director of Finance, MHA. Picture: Patrick Dickson

Mental Health Authority calls for decriminalisation of suicide behaviour

The Mental Health Authority (MHA) has urged the government to respond to calls by the authority to decriminalise suicidal behaviour in Ghana.

It said despite presenting several petitions to Parliament and the Attorney-General on the matter, it was yet to receive any response.

The Chief Executive Officer of the MHA, Dr  Akwasi Osei, was speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday to commemorate the 2019 World Mental Health Day on the theme: “Mental health promotion and suicide prevention”.

Activities lined up for this year’s event include educative programmes at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Apart from open day activities at regional and district hospitals to raise awareness of mental health, there will also be a ‘What Do You Know’ programme by BasicNeeds, an NGO, live on GTV on October 13, 2019.

Criminal Code

Section 57 of the 1960 Criminal Code, Act 29, states: “Whoever attempts to commit suicide shall be guilty of misdemeanor.”

However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has encouraged countries still criminalising suicidal behaviour to decriminalise it, since such behaviour is a mental health issue, for which reason patients need help, not punishment.

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Suicide cases

Dr Osei said majority of the people who committed suicide were mostly the youth and children, saying it was a crucial phenomenon.

He explained that some of the causes of that behaviour emanated from violence, sexual abuse, cyber bullying, among others.

According to him, the MHA received 45 calls from people aged between 18 and 35 years when it opened a dedicated telephone line to track calls from people with suicidal tendencies.

He said the callers comprised 60 per cent women and 35 per cent students who complained about relationship problems, social and economic problems and pre-existing mental health challenges.

“The focus of suicide and its prevention by the mental health fraternity worldwide speaks volumes of mental health as a public health crisis that is manifesting through suicide,” Dr Osei said.

The CEO further called for more sensitisation to raise awareness of the scale of suicide around the world.

“We have a role, as emergency workers, health workers, teachers, people working in prisons, as well as the media, to help prevent suicide,” he said.

Challenges

Dr Osei said agencies mandated to treat people with mental illness were under-resourced, thereby making them ineffective.

“If these agencies were very effective, all these people you see on the streets would have been treated and connected to their families. What is missing currently are the financial resources that should be provided for the agencies,” he said.

The Board Chair of the MHA, who is also a legal practitioner, Mrs Estelle M. Appiah, said there was the need to change the mindset and cultural beliefs about suicide, adding: “The court should not treat people who attempt suicide in a derogatory manner. We need to develop empathy for people who commit suicide because they deserve befitting burials.”

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