On my Twitter feed last week, I saw many images of Ghanaians celebrating Independence Day: people dressed in their finest, cheering and waving flags, marching bands playing, ordinary Ghanaians dancing in the streets.

Hundreds of people with real or perceived mental health conditions remain chained or confined in prayer camps in Ghana, despite some progress, one year after the government pledged to enforce a ban on shackling, Human Rights Watch said today on World Mental Health Day.

A UN expert on Friday urged Ghana's government to decriminalize adult consensual same-sex conduct to protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

Over the last several years, Ghana has taken positive steps in the field of mental health by establishing the Mental Health Authority, training mental health professionals, conducting awareness-raising on mental health, engaging with prayer camp leaders to prevent abusive practices and even releasing 16 people shackled in one prayer camp last year. However, based on a visit in October 2017 and meetings with senior government officials, some of the Authority's most important mandates are still not

The government of Ghana should ensure adequate funding for mental health services in Ghana, as a crucial step to eliminating the widespread practice of shackling and other abuses against people with psychosocial disabilities, a coalition of nongovernmental groups said today.

On September 12, Ghana's new President Nana Akufo-Addo made good on his campaign promise to deliver free secondary education for children across the country.

People living in Ghana's mining communities may now be better protected from deadly mercury poisoning.

Geneva -Health ministers should pledge to take comprehensive action to prevent and treat the negative health effects of mercury, a toxic chemical, Human Rights Watch said today. The World Health Assembly is scheduled to discuss a resolution on the new international treaty on mercury, the Minamata Convention, on May 21, 2014.

Geneva -The government of Ghana should ensure that its newly formed Mental Health Authority closely monitors all mental health facilities to end the widespread mistreatment of people with mental disabilities, Human Rights Watch said today.