Mr Mumuni Fuseini, the Northern Regional Mental Health Co-ordinator, has said epilepsy, a neurological disorder, could be controlled and even cured.

He said the disease was also not a curse, as portrayed by credulous beliefs.

Mr Fuseini was speaking at day’s training for a 60-member Mental Health Club of the Adom Model Basic School at Nkwanta in the Volta Region on common mental illnesses and epilepsy and their symptoms.

The formation of the clubs is under a BasicNeeds-Ghana project; “Strengthening Community Mental Health Services to Improve Women and Youth Mental Health in Ghana,” funded by UKAID.

BasicNeeds-Ghana is a mental health and development advocacy organisation that implements and promotes initiatives to transform the lives of mental health sufferers.

The project covers the Nkwanta-South, Nkwanta-North, Krachi-Nchumuru, Krachi-West, and Krachi-East districts in the Volta Region and eight other districts in the Northern Region.

Mr Fuseini said the disease was a mental health issue and that those afflicted must be educated on its manifestation and what needed to be done to avoid injuries during attacks.

He said epileptics, for example, had procedures to follow while cooking, which required that sufferers did not sit or stand near the stove or fire.

He urged club members to go out into the communities to dispel the many fantasies about the disease and other mental illnesses.

Mr Fuseini observed that some road accidents were probably as a result of epileptic attacks suffered by the drivers.

Kingsley Kumbelim, the Project Officer of BasicNeeds-Ghana, told journalists that poor knowledge about mental health among the populace, stigmatisation and poor funding were some reasons why the programme was started.

He said the project would also improve the capacity of community health nurses and teachers in handling mental health issues.

Mr Kumbelim said so far 1,770 students in junior and senior high schools had been roped into the clubs.

He said the project objective was to secure the dignity of mental health sufferers, increase their access to professional care and have them integrated into society.