Building a Coordinated Front to Bridge the NCD and Mental Health Response Gaps to Achieve Universal Health Coverage in Ghana

AO Charway-Felli, MD, PhD, FGCPS

37 Military Hospital, Accra

African Academy of Neurology

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Health, Brain health, Mental health

WHO definition of health:

“a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”

General health

Health, Brain health, Mental health

Brain health

Health, Brain health, Mental health

Mental health

The “age” of the African Continent

Neurological and mental health disorders, and Disability

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO) more than one billion people in the world live with neurological disorders.
• The Global Burden of Diseases(GBD) estimated that neurological disorders were the most disabling diseases in the world and the second cause of death and accounted for 16.8% of all deaths, and the leading cause of disability.

Life expectancy in Ghana

life expectancy at birth (years) has improved by ▲ 7.03 years from 59.2 years in 2000 to 66.3 years in 2019.

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Global DALYs by mental disorder, sex, and age, 2019

Age-standardised DALYs per 100 000 attributable to mental disorders, 2019

Ranking of age-standardised DALY rates for all neurological disorders by GBD region in 2015

Ranking of age-standardised DALY rates for all neurological disorders by GBD region in 2015

Education – � a. medical personnel� b. Allied health personnel� c. general population�

Education and advocacy campaigns

• General Public
• Policy makers
• Medical personnel
• Approach NCD/ Brain health and Mental health as a public health problem
• Concept shift from a curative/management model of healthcare provision to a preventative model

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Communication with Policy makers, Opinion leaders

• Economic context of NCD, poor brain and mental health of the general public
• Impaired productivity
• Absenteeism and presenteeism

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• Cost of prevention versus cost of care
• Intangible costs of poor health status

Healthcare providers

Practice Setting

• Incentivisation for moving into the regions
• Outreach programmes

TAKE CARE TO THE PEOPLE

Building of multidisciplinary teams and communication networks

• Primary healthcare providers
• Community healthcare providers
• Social workers
• Psychologists
• specialists
• Physiotherapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech therapists
• etc

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Decentralisation of services

What can you do?

• Everyone knows someone with an NCD, neurological and mental health disorder/disease
• Be kind, inquire about each other: Not all disability is visible
• Say NO!! to stigmatisation
• Know your right to access to healthcare
• Hold your policy-makers accountable
• Share information
• LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!!

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