Setting Mental Health Priorities in Ghana: A 15-Year Contextual Analysis of the Presidential State of the Nation Address

Abstract

Globally, mental health issues have been neglected and allowed to be suppressed by stigma and discrimination for a very long time, although mental disorders are responsible for about 30% of the global non-fatal disease burden. Thus, the global call for solution to this challenge admonishes governments, donors, and mental health service users to prioritise mental health. Towards this end, speeches by key political actors can be used to garner public support and set out strong arguments for the prioritisation of mental health. Guided by the agenda-setting theory, this study sought to contribute to the evidence on the mental health priorities in Ghana by conducting a summative qualitative content analysis of the state of the nation addresses (SONAs) presented by presidents of Ghana from 2007 to 2021. Findings show that no mental health condition was highlighted in any of the SONAs, and mental health priorities in terms of policy and investment were superficial, inadequate, and woefully incomparable to those of physical health. It is suggested that government should heighten mental health priorities, given that mental disorders are leading the top 10 causes of the years lived with disability burden in the country.