At a learning and close-out summit for the ‘Resilient City for Adolescents’ (RCA) initiative held in Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality of the Bono Region, the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), Raphael Godlove Ahenu, painted a stark picture of Ghana’s mental health landscape.
According to him, the country is currently grappling with a significant mental health burden, with more than three million people living with mild conditions and over 600,000 others managing severe forms of mental illness. He stressed that the data signals an urgent need for national attention and coordinated action.
He stated that “research is showing the scale of Ghana’s mental health burden, and this is a clear indication that mental health must be treated as a national priority.”
Ahenu attributed much of the situation to rising stress levels and socio-economic pressures that continue to weigh heavily on individuals across communities. He further noted that stigma and limited access to care are pushing many affected people into silence.
“In fact, many people are suffering in silence due to stigmatisation and limited access to care,” Mr Ahenu stated.
The programme was implemented by Global Media Foundation (GloMeF) in collaboration with the Indigenous Women Empowerment Network and Citizens Watch Ghana, under a £300,000 grant from the Fondation Botnar, administered through Ecorys United Kingdom. The three-year RCA project focused on improving adolescent well-being across Sunyani and the Sunyani West Municipality.
Supported by partners under the Healthy Cities for Adolescents Initiative, the project aimed to strengthen young people’s capacity to participate meaningfully in civic, social, political, and economic life while fostering healthier urban communities.
The summit served as a reflection point to assess implementation outcomes, share lessons learned, highlight best practices, and showcase innovations led by adolescents during the course of the project.
Turning to policy concerns, Ahenu urged swift legislative action on the mental health bill, warning that delays continue to undermine efforts to expand services and protect vulnerable groups.
“It’s worrying that the government isn’t paying much attention to the passage of the bill,” he worried, saying that “we can’t have a country with a large number of people facing mental health challenges and yet have only 38 psychiatric doctors serving the entire population.”
He argued that passing the bill would unlock greater funding and improve the training, recruitment, and deployment of mental health professionals nationwide.
Ahenu also called on families to become more attentive to the emotional and psychological health of their children, noting that early signs of distress are often ignored until conditions worsen.
“The behaviour of some children isn’t in order, but their families have not taken notice to help them seek medical care,” he stated, saying that early intervention remained key to preventing mild conditions from developing into severe ones.
He concluded by advocating stronger collaboration among schools, healthcare providers, and community organisations, alongside greater inclusion of young people in decision-making processes affecting their well-being.
