A Senior Investigator and Public Education Officer with the Tamale Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) office Inusah Iddrisu has admonished the general public to take the rights of people with mental health conditions seriously before the law catches them. Mr. Iddrisu made the call in Tamale during the two days Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Advocacy training workshop for Mental Health Alliance Member organized by BasicNeeds-Ghana.
Engaging with Apexnewgh.com after his legal presentation on Rights for people with mental health conditions said UN took a decision to come out with a resolution, and the resolution set out the rights that persons with a mental condition should enjoy, and according to Mr. Inusah, the resolution has tasked state parties to come out with policies and programmes and institution to ensure that the rights set out in the resolution are enjoyed by people with mental conditions in their respective space or countries.
“…so, Ghana going by the resolution in 2012, came out with the Mental Health Act 846, and in that particular, they have set out the rights people with the mental condition will enjoy and that includes, their right for a decent life, their right to health, their right standard treatment, their right to confidentiality when they go to health institutions and their right to employment. People with a mental health condition should not be discriminated against based on their mental condition and employer should not terminate the employment of an employee base on his or her mental condition and even if they lived in your house as a tenant, with a certain mental condition, you should not evict that person based on his or her mental condition. The act has provided for the procedure the employer should take to ensure that the rights of these people are protected.”
However, he advised employers who are taking undue advantage of these categories of people due to their vulnerable conditions, to get copies of the Acts to guide them and their various institutions.
“… i would entreat employer to get themselves copies of the Act so that anytime they want to act base on persons suffering from a mental condition in their respective institution, they should refer to the Act and work in line with the law so that do not violate the rights of these categories of people.”
He further pointed that, Sexual and Reproductive Health Right (SRHR) is one of the legal rights the law has provided for everybody to enjoy, because, it is a particular right that gives an individual or couple the opportunity to take a decision on their sexuality or their reproductive rights and that includes, when and how they should produce, the spacing and then how they should do it.
“…sexual materials including medication, access to the reproductive health drugs, in fact, it should be there a very accessible and affordable so that everybody can get it.”
“…but then, we are talking about a person with mental conditions and then, when we talked about reproduction, we are talking about people who can form an opinion and concern to the Act and know the consequences of what they are doing and so if the person cannot take that decision, the law provides for any denial or limitation to the enjoyment of the right must be subject to an assessment capacity. So, even though these rights are set out by law, it means that everybody is supposed to enjoy it.” He stressed
Apexnewsgh.com/ Ghana/ Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen
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