Kwabena Nketia, President, Teshie-Nungua Rotary Club
The Rotary Club of Accra, Teshie-Nungua, is leading a campaign to promote awareness on mental health and Cerebral Palsy, a neurological disorder that affects movement, muscle tone, and posture in babies.
The Club, through its project, dubbed ‘ƆkamafƆ,’ ha also advocated for the inclusion of treatments and physical therapies for cerebral palsy and mental health conditions under the National Health Insurance Scheme.
According to the 2022 Cerebral Palsy Research Network report, mental health conditions occur more frequently in individuals with cerebral palsy than in the general population, with 46% of children self-reporting anxiety and depression.
Data also shows that Ghana has a high incidence of cerebral palsy, with one in every three hundred live births, compared to the worldwide incidence of one (1) in every five hundred live births.
At an annual event by the Teshie-Nungua Rotary Club to create awareness on the two health conditions, PAG William Ofori, the district rotary public image chairman, questioned why the Mental Health Policy, which was introduced in 2004, has still not been approved after 20 years.
He said, this must be a source of concern for stakeholders, and urged for an immediate action to have the policy approved, to address mental health concerns
Mental health is an essential aspect of a person’s overall well-being, which affects how one thinks.
However, mental health issues are often stigmatized and ignored, leading to suffering and isolation of affected individuals.
Cerebral palsy, on the other hand, is the most common motor disability in childhood, and can have significant impact on the lives of those affected and their families
President of the Teshie-Nungua Rotary club, Kwabena Nketia, said, the silence on the stigmatization, must be broken.
He said raising awareness and support on both health conditions can help improve the quality of life of persons suffering from these conditions.
The ƆkamafƆ project was launched in October 2023, by the Teshie-Nungua Rotary Club, purposely to raise awareness on both Cerebral Palsy and mental health issues.
The ‘ƆkamafƆ Project is a collaboration of 12 Rotary clubs of Accra, with the Teshie -Nungua as the lead, West, Labone, Kanda, North Kaneshie, Premier International, and the Rotary clubs of Kumasi, Dunkwa, Obuasi, and the E-Rotary Club of Ghana for advocacy, social engineering and mobilisation.
The project aims to advocate for and raise awareness about the fundamental human rights of individuals with cerebral palsy and mental health conditions, in line with the United Nation’s Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goal Three benchmarking.
The Rotary Club of Accra Teshie-Nungua has a long-standing commitment to serving the community and making a positive impact on the lives of the people through various projects and initiatives, as it strives to promote health, education and economic opportunities for all.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak