The comments by the first deputy speaker of parliament and the minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu and Joseph Osei-Owusu respectively on the floor of parliament in the wake of the debate to decriminalize attempted suicide are very unfortunate. I had long thought that Haruna Iddrisu, the much-touted walking encyclopedia of Ghana’s parliament was indeed the Einstein until his unfortunate comment or rather a dishonest thought. Hon. Haruna Iddrisu comment that parliament should not decriminalize attempted suicide and the country should continue to jail persons who attempt to commit suicide to serve as a deterrent to others is a sad one to note. Haruna Iddrisu even made his case unconvincing by citing a scenario where a man hanged himself after having a fight with his sister, saying, people like that cannot be said to have a mental illness. The minority leader ought to be told that mental illness comes in various forms and it is not only those who roam naked on the street. Over 90% of persons who commit suicide have mental problems in one way or the other underlying their actions. Surprisingly, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu rather sees altruistic suicide as a justifiable act but condemns suicide in depression and stress. He stated, “You do not want to think that when you have depression and distress, the ultimate thing is that you go and take your life since you cannot recover your life back”. In this era of internet buzz, the gentle minority leader could have done himself good by doing a simple search rather than making an unsubstantiated statement. Is Hon. Huruna Iddrisu oblivion of section 76 (10) of the Mental Health Act, 2012 or the parliament’s walking encyclopedia didn’t revise his notes before the debate? The criminal code section 57(2) of the criminal offences Act, 1960 (act 29) which criminalizes attempted suicide in Ghana is contrary to section 76 (10) of the Mental Health Act (Act 846) which clearly states, “A court may authorize for psychiatric assessment of a person who attempts to commit suicide”. In this vein, the Mental Health Authority and other stakeholders have organized several workshops for Judges and Magistrates across the country on how to suspect mental illness in line of their duties and to refer them to the psychiatric hospitals for assessment. The Mental Health Advocacy Gh also petitioned parliament to repeal this colonial era-law thus section 57(2) of the criminal offences act, 1960 (Act 29) which has outlived its purpose. The first deputy speaker of parliament, honorable Joseph Osei-Owusu on the other hand claims no person have been prosecuted in Ghana for attempting to commit suicide and that the call to decriminalize the law is needless. Is the Bekwai MP really serious? Evidence abounds on the internet and the Hon. MP could have sought help by a simple search rather than exposing his ignorance. The evidences are there: In 2011, a farmer in the Ashanti region was convicted and sentenced to 3 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted suicide. The farmer was said to have claimed that he was not loved by his community and so he decided to kill himself from this world by cutting his throat but was fortunately rescued by a passer-by. The Good Samaritan reported him to the police where he was medically treated in a hospital and subsequently jailed. This was a case of mental illness who needed psychiatric treatment but instead, he was given a jail sentence to worsen his plight. See https://www.modernghana.com/news/329852/suicide-man-jailed.html In another incidence of such cruelty of the anti-suicide law in Ghana, a 20-year-old male student was in 2005 sentenced to 24 months in prison by a magistrate court for attempted suicide. See https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Student-jailed-for-attempted-suicide-88687. The comments by these two MPs tell industry players in the mental health sector that a lot more education and awareness creation about mental illness needs to be done to demystify the myth surrounding mental illness. It is interesting to note that England abolished its laws criminalizing attempted suicide in 1961, only a year after the same law was passed in Ghana, the then Gold Coast, yet Ghana and several of the British former colonies continue to maintain and criminalizes attempted suicide instead of also repealing same. Countries that have decriminalized attempted suicide including India, Canada, South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia, according to media reports have recorded a significant decrease in the suicide rate.   It is the hope that Ghana will also repeal and decriminalize attempted suicide. Suicide is a psychological or mental problem that needs psychiatric treatment, not imprisonment. Suicide is a call for help.   The writer, Malcolm Ali is a mental health advocate and a psychiatric nurse at Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital. Email: chibaronet@gmail.com

Becoming a certified nurse or midwife is a career goal for many young persons, and getting into nursing training college is the only means to this end. However, the passion and enthusiasm to pursue the ‘noble profession’ is often met with many challenges, one of which is getting application forms to buy. Inadequacies in advertisement and public sensitization on the date of release and sales of forms have been a major challenge that persons who seek to further their education at the nursing training colleges have to deal with. Such persons are therefore compelled to rely on friends who are already in the training schools for information. At other times, these desperate persons have to check post offices and banks from time to time till they finally hear or see the form being sold, and these put financial stresses on prospective applicants and their parents due to their going up and down in trying to get information on the availability of the forms, especially those from villages and other remote areas of the country. [appbox googleplay screenshots com.digitalnursinglabs.nursecompanion] Previously, some workers at the various point of sales of the trainee forms charged above the approved prices for the forms; some persons would buy the forms and keep them, only to sell them later when they ran short at inflated prices outside their work place or its original point of sales. And because prospective applicants were so desperately in need of the forms, most would ignore the price and buy it in order to stand a chance of getting enrolled into nursing training college. Also, no strict notices were issued when the forms were released to control the price at which the forms were to be sold. So, the public were not aware of the price of the forms and so any price the form would be sold, they just bought it. At other times, prospective applicants knew that price of the forms at other places were less than that at where they were buying theirs, but due to transportation, they were left with no choice than to buy it anyway. In the face of these difficulties, there is the need for a way out, which should help put the general public at ease. A proper advertisement on the form should be done about a week before the release of the forms. The general public should also be educated on how to go about the application when they get the forms.

“Your attitude toward duty was exceptional. You proved to clients and staff that they needed each other’s support in order for us to achieve our goal. Your commitment to the Polyclinic’s activities was exemplary…” These are few of the words of gratitude showered on Nurse Belinda Dzierdzorm Korley by the management of Ho Polyclinic for her hard work, sense of initiative, enthusiasm toward responsibilities, patient-centeredness and show of discipline in the performance of her nursing and leadership roles. Nurse Korley was honoured at a 2017 end-of-year award ceremony in Ho, in the Volta Region. The 29-year-old nurse was born at Abor and lived her early childhood days in her mother’s hometown, Hikpo, in the Volta Region. At age 4, she was sent to Ashaiman, near Tema, where she had her basic education under the care of an aunt, while her mother stayed back in the village to ply a trade in dressing making and petty consumables to cover her upkeep. She sought further studies at Chemu Senior High School from 2003, where she read General Science. Raised by a single parent with the support of her uncle, in the lowly shacks of Ashaiman, Nurse Korley defied the odds of uncertainties, took a factory hand job in a construction company, where she raised money to help pay her training college fees.  Today, she remains a symbol of dedication among her peers. The wife, and mother of one, appreciated her mother for being a central part of her life. [appbox googleplay screenshots com.digitalnursinglabs.nursecompanion] Nurse Korley recalled; “Growing up, all I wanted to be was a lawyer. I can’t remember what informed my choice but it was one that I wasn’t going to trade for anything. I remember mum used to teach me A-B-C-D at home before I started nursery in my village. But before completing junior high school, life took several turns for my mum, my two younger sisters and me. Again, there wasn’t anything in terms of career guidance. Then, there was the issue of family expectations in terms of school and social life…” In what came as an emotional moment for the celebrated nurse, Belinda recalled further; ‘I didn’t have the luxury of choosing my dream school or course. So General Science did me, and not the other way around. I was confused at the end of the course because I didn’t know what to apply for, thinking that Law wasn’t going to absorb me. I didn’t therefore apply to Law school. Then Steve [now her husband] proposed nursing and here I am today.” “Nursing training school changed me a lot. There were times I asked myself whether nursing was the right place for me. It was difficult separating my emotions from my job. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing a patient under my care. Even a cockroach scared me, but all that changed. I learnt to accept that!” She added. Recounting her past experiences put Nurse Korley in tears. She admitted, “I have some flashbacks that I couldn’t mention. But thanks to my mum and a few others…God has been faithful. I always told myself, “You can’t fail.”  Nurse Korley is currently pursuing a fellowship specialty in Paediatrics at the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives. She attended the Ho Nursing and Midwifery Training School. [appbox googleplay screenshots com.digitalnursinglabs.nursecompanion] Among the leadership roles played by Nurse Korley are Institutional Coordinator for Peer Review Activities, Drugs and Therapeutics Committee Member, and Focal Person for Quality Improvement Initiatives. In her last words, she said, “I look forward to becoming a professor in Nursing while making time to build my family. I would also love to build a home for the less privileged and give them hope to be what they want to be. The nursing profession is proud of you, Nurse Belinda Dziedzorm Korley. Remain a beacon of Inspiration.