Disability in Ghana

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A Ghanaian man in a wheelchair Man in a WheelChair.jpg
A Ghanaian man in a wheelchair

The Ghana Statistical Service reports from their 2021 census indicate that approximately eight percent (2,098,138 individuals) of the Ghanaian population experience some form of disability, with a higher prevalence among females (8.8%) than males (6.7%). [1] Disabilities are more common in rural areas (9.5%) compared to urban areas (6.5%). [1] Among the six domains of disability, difficulty in seeing is the most widespread, affecting four percent of the population, while difficulty in communicating is the least common, affecting one percent. [1] Disability issues in Ghana have evolved from a human rights concern to a developmental issue due to its link to poverty. [2]

Contents

Policy and legislation

In 2006, the government of Ghana passed the Persons with Disability Act (Act 715) together with civil organizations and disability movement groups to cover rights, education, healthcare, employment, transportation, housing, medical rehabilitation, information dissemination, and cultural participation. [2] [3] Ghana has also committed to various international agreements, including the African Decade of Disabled Persons [4] [5] and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, becoming the 119th country in the world to ratify this convention to protect the rights and dignity of people living with disability. [2] [6] Although Ghana had signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in March 2007, the government completed the ratification process by August 2012. [7]

An estimated five million Ghanaians have disabilities, of which 2.8 million have a mental disability, however only one percent of the country's health budget is earmarked for mental health services. [7]

Stigma and inequities around disability

Despite the national policies and efforts of advocacy groups to advance the well-being of people living with disabilities in Ghana, they still face stigma, which stems from a lack of understanding about disability, societal attitudes, misconceptions and cultural beliefs. This stigma contributes to the marginalization and exclusion of this group from fully participating in Ghanaian society, resulting in socio-economic challenges. People with disability in Ghana face significant inequities, including poverty, inadequate access to healthcare and high unemployment rates. [8] [9] Societal biases in Ghana that view people with disability as less capable often make them unattractive candidates to potential employers. [8] Additionally, they receive limited educational opportunities and skill development due to insufficient investment in their educational needs and stigmatization in schools. [3] [9]

In some communities in Ghana, persons with disabilities or deformities are assumed to be possessed by evil spirits. [10] [11]

Spirit children documentary

In 2013, Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas reported on Spirit children practice in some communities in Ghana. A "spirit child" is a child with disability believed to possess magical powers that bring misfortune. [12] Disability in Ghana is stigmatized, and in some communities, based on the advice of a witchdoctor, a child with disability labelled as a spirit child is killed. [13] In the Kassena-Nankana District in Northern Ghana, Spirit children are referred to as chichuru or kinkiriko. [14] These children primarily come from poor, rural areas. [15] However, if a spirit child is considered "good," there are no punishments for the child or their family. [14] In 2013, local communities where the practice of killing newborn babies with a disability had occurred enacted legislation to prohibit the killing of "Spirit children". [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] .

Sport

Ghana has sent a team to every Summer Paralympic Games since 2004. [23]

Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations

The Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations is an umbrella group, founded in 1987, of smaller organisations representing various persons with disabilities in Ghana. [24] The group has branches in nearly every one of Ghana's districts.

According to their website, the GFD's vision is "an inclusive society for all persons with disabilities in Ghana." Its mission is "to advocate the rights of Persons with Disability by influencing policies, programmes and activities at the national and local levels and to strengthen the organizations of Persons with Disabilities." Some of their successes so far have been at the political level, such as the "introduction of [a] tactile ballot system," allowing blind citizens to vote on their own since 2004; voter registration and participation for those in psychiatric hospitals since 2012; and advocacy for the 2006 Persons with Disability Act (Act 715) and the 2012 Mental Health Act (Act 846). [24] In 2016, the GFD continued fighting for clarification of the Disability Act of 2006 by petitioning President John Dramani Mahama, hoping to increase protection of equality and public health-related provisions. [25]

The GFD currently includes the Ghana Blind Union, Ghana National Association of the Deaf, Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled, Ghana Association of Persons with Albinism, Mental Health Society of Ghana, and Burns Survivors Association, as well as Inclusion Ghana which specialize in intellectual disability and Share Care Ghana which specialize in auto-immune and neurological disorders. [24]

Mental Illness

Out of a population of over 21.6 million, 650,000 Ghanaians have some type of acute mental disorder. An additional 2,166,000 have a moderate mental disability. [26] Ghana provides only three psychiatric hospitals throughout the country to help those who have a mental disability. [27] Also, for inpatient care there are 7 inpatient units (in general hospitals and clinics) and 4 community residential units. [28]

Ghana is said to be "the most religious society in the world" ( Religion in Ghana), with 96% of the population identifying with a particular spiritual belief. [29] Mental illness is seen as caused by curses or demons. The only perceived solution to this problem is through spiritual healing, like prayer, with only minimal medical help such as through medication. [30]

Prayer camps for the mentally ill

Ghana has religious institutes, known as Prayer camps, that replace hospital care for individuals with serious neuropsychiatric illness. People are often kept there against their will and then tortured by the staff. [29] They receive only insignificant medical treatment and care. [27]

A 2016 Yale University study showed that both prayer camp prophets and staff and psychiatric hospital mental health professionals show interest at the idea of collaboration. Specifically, prayer camp staff are interested in help with the provision and use of medication, as well as improving the hygiene and infrastructure of prayer camps. However, prayer camp staff are highly opposed to medical explanations of mental illness, instead preferring supernatural explanations, while mental health and medical staff are concerned with the practices of chainings and fastings. Furthermore, despite the importance of long-term medication use in patient recovery, prayer camp staff only endorse medication use over short periods. [31]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ghana Statistical Services". www.statsghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ghana Statistical Services". statsghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  3. 1 2 Opoku, Maxwell Peprah; Nketsia, William (2021-01-01). "'Nothing about us, without us': Voices of leaders of disabled people's organisation in management of disability fund". Social Sciences & Humanities Open. 4 (1): 100160. doi: 10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100160 . ISSN   2590-2911.
  4. ↑ "Africa's disabled will not be forgotten". Africa Renewal. 2010-04-15. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  5. ↑ Mureriwa, Juliet (2011-11-01). "Some reflections on the draft African Disability Protocol and socio-economic justice for persons with disabilities : feature 1". Sabinet African Journals. 12 (3).
  6. ↑ "Ghana: Disability Rights Convention Ratified | Human Rights Watch". 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  7. 1 2 "Ghana: Disability Rights Convention Ratified". Human Rights Watch . Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  8. 1 2 GNA (2022-11-28). "Persons with Disability and Ghana's economy today". Ghana News Agency. Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  9. 1 2 Mfoafo-M’Carthy, Magnus; Grischow, Jeff D.; Stocco, Nicole (January 2020). "Cloak of Invisibility: A Literature Review of Physical Disability in Ghana". SAGE Open. 10 (1): 215824401990056. doi: 10.1177/2158244019900567 . ISSN   2158-2440.
  10. ↑ "Ghana News - The Misrepresentation of Disability - Graphic Online". Graphic.com.gh. 2016-01-07. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  11. ↑ Reiter, Matthew (2016-10-19). "Restricted: Mental Disability in Ghana - Human Rights Brief". Human Rights Brief. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  12. ↑ Anas, Anas Aremeyaw (10 January 2013). "Spirit Child". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  13. ↑ Issues in Sociology and Social Work: Aging, Medical, and Missionary Research and Application: 2011 Edition. ScholarlyEditions. 9 January 2012. ISBN   9781464966767 . Retrieved 30 May 2017– via Google Books.
  14. 1 2 Allotey, Pascale; Reidpath, Daniel (2001-04-01). "Establishing the causes of childhood mortality in Ghana: the 'spirit child'". Social Science & Medicine. 52 (7): 1007–1012. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00207-0. ISSN   0277-9536. PMID   11266045.
  15. ↑ Bayat, Mojdeh (2014-01-27). "The stories of 'snake children': killing and abuse of children with developmental disabilities in West Africa". Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 59 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1111/jir.12118. ISSN   0964-2633. PMID   24467696.
  16. ↑ "Ghanaians ban 'spirit child' killing". BBC. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  17. ↑ "The country where disabled people are beaten and chained". BBC. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  18. ↑ "Spirit children of Ghana". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  19. ↑ "Ghana Bans Killing of Children". Pacific Standard . Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  20. ↑ "Paul Apowida: From Ghanaian 'spirit boy' to UK soldier". BBC. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  21. ↑ "Telegraph Christmas Appeal: saving the cursed children of Ghana". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  22. ↑ Vivian E D Ampadu. "The Depiction of Mental Illness in Nigerian and Ghanaian movies: A negative or positive impact on mental health awareness in Ghana?" (PDF). Disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
  23. ↑ "Paralympic Results & Historical Records". Paralympic.org. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  24. 1 2 3 "About us --- Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations". gfdgh.org. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  25. ↑ "Ghana Federation of Disability Organisations petitions President - Ghana Business News". ghanabusinessnews.com. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  26. ↑ "WHO | GHANA". World Health Organization. Archived from the original on July 2, 2009. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  27. 1 2 "Restricted: Mental Disability in Ghana - Human Rights Brief". Human Rights Brief. 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  28. ↑ WHO-AIMS (2011). "The Mental Health System in Ghana" (PDF). The Kintampo Project.
  29. 1 2 Edwards, Jocelyn (January 2014). "Ghana's mental health patients confined to prayer camps". The Lancet. 383 (9911): 15–16. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(13)62717-8 . ISSN   0140-6736. PMID   24400332. S2CID   41728845.
  30. ↑ "Ghana Breaks The Chains On Mental Health". Human Rights Watch. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  31. ↑ Arias, Daniel; Taylor, Lauren; Ofori-Atta, Angela; Bradley, Elizabeth H. (2016-09-12). Burns, Jonathan K (ed.). "Prayer Camps and Biomedical Care in Ghana: Is Collaboration in Mental Health Care Possible?". PLOS ONE. 11 (9): e0162305. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1162305A. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162305 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   5019394 . PMID   27618551.
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