Mental Health: BCI Donates Drugs To Five Northern Regions

Breast Care International (BCI) in collaboration with Peace and Love Hospitals (PLH) has donated psycho-tropical medications to the mental health facilities in the  5 northern regions of Ghana through Basic Needs Ghana, a non-governmental organization (NGO).

The medications, which were donated to BCI/PLS by Direct Relief in California, in the USA, are to assist mental health patients in the five northern regions of the country who are finding it very difficult to access the scarce drugs.

The presentation, the fifth in a series, took place at the premises of Peace and Love Hospital at Oduom in the Oforikrom municipal of the Ashanti region, on Monday, September 2, 2019.

BCI and Direct Relief of USA signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the goal of providing essential medicines from the USA provided to Ghana, purposely for needy but poor patients.

The President of Breast Care International, Dr. Mrs. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, who made the presentation, said the donation were to give relief to the poor mental health patients who cannot afford to buy and should not be sold.

“Our poor mental health patients cannot afford to pay for these drugs so please give to those poor patients so that they would be would be well and come back to the society, the drugs are giving freely by the Direct Relief, so please give them out freely in respect to our MOU” she pleaded.

Dr. Wiafe Addai, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Peace and Love Hospitals in Kumasi and Accra, said the mental health medicines which is not on NHIS list, will afford the patients to get constant supply of the drugs to improve on their recovering rate.

“A lot of our mental health patients are not able to integrated into the system because they do not get constant supply of the medication they need because it is not captured on the list of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) so I am sure with these products given freely, they will be able to get well and come to the society,” she added.

The Programs Manager of Basic Needs Ghana, Adams Dokurugu Yahaya, receiving the items, was grateful to the management of BCI/PLS for their continue support and promised to use them as required.

“We express our gratitude to Direct Relief, Dr. Wiafe Addai and the management of BCI/PLS for the support they extend to persons with mental healthcare in the northern regions. The medication comes as a relief the time these drugs are in shortage in the country and not captured too by the NHIS. Mental Health Professionals will no longer be frustrated for the lack of medicines,” Dokurugu Yahaya gladly said.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Francis Appiah