The Ghana Mental Health Authority (GMHA) has recorded a total of 20,365 cases of neurological/neurodevelopmental disorders in 2022, compared with 21,442 in the previous year.
It said cases were down by 1,077, or 5.15%.
Neurological/neurodevelopmental disorders are conditions that affect brain function and range from mild impairment that allows affected individuals to lead fairly normal lives to severe impairment that requires lifelong care. Various up to
Disorders include speech disorders, Tourette’s syndrome, schizophrenia, fragile X syndrome, and autism.
GMHA acting CEO Dr. Carolyn Amissa read on her behalf Tuesday at the commission of the Neurodiagnostic Center in Accra by Evans Danso, GMHA’s head of monitoring and assessment. I made this revelation in my speech.
In 2022, she said, epilepsy was the most common with 18,506 cases, mental retardation with 739 cases, conduct/behavior disorder-mh with 388 cases, autism with 381 cases, and ADHA-mh with 351 cases. .
She expressed concern over the high number of epilepsy cases in the country, and said at the regional level, the Ashanti region recorded the highest with 2,670, representing 14.43% of the 2022 national figure of 18,506.
Regarding the breakdown of the remaining regions, she noted that the central region recorded 2,151 cases, representing 11.62%, and the northeast region recorded 1,982 cases, representing 10.71 of the national figure.
She also said the Bono East region recorded 1,897 cases, representing 10.25%, while the Greater Accra region recorded 1,562 cases, representing 8.44%.
Dr. Amissa clarified that the total number of cases reported in DHIMS2 for 2022 may not be the total number of cases in the country as they may not have been reported.
“These figures are those who reported to the hospital where the data were collected, so they may not have been reported,” she explained.
Dr. Amissa urged all educational and business institutions to pay close attention to the mental health of their students and workers, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis in the country.
She further called on all religious and social groups to seek the services of professional counselors and psychologists, as well as early referral of members showing signs of mental illness to mental health agencies to provide complementary services. I called on you to ensure that you receive the attention and care you deserve.
Dr. Amissa urged everyone to utilize the MHA’s toll-free number 0800678678 for emergency mental health attention and guidance whenever they are experiencing a mental health crisis.
