Some consultant psychiatrists have called on the three tiers of government to intervene in the promotion of effective mental health services across the country.
Dr Rafael Ogbolu and Dr Kafayat Ogunsola made the call at a symposium organised by the Mental Health Information Network and Development (MIND TRUST) on Wednesday in Lagos.
It was organised in collaboration with the Psychiatry Department of LUTH and Suicide Research Prevention Initiative (SURPIN) in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the symposium was in commiseration of the 2018 World Mental Health Day with the theme: “Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World”.
World Mental Health Day is observed on every Oct.10 with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health.
Ogbolu, the Coordinator of SURPIN, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, urged the Federal Government to come up with a Mental Health Law that would guide and govern the practices of psychiatric in Nigeria.
“What we need to do in order to keep abreast with the world is to have a mental health law in Nigeria, because our laws that govern the practice of mental health are outdated.
“If we are going to catch up with the rest of the world and effectively address the issue of mental health in Nigeria, we must have a mental health law.
“Mental health law will govern the practices of mental health by making sure that it is safe, because without the law, anyone can get up and practice.
“But, if there are laws, they will govern how to practice and the importance of this is to protect the citizens as regards service delivery.
“So, a mental health law will encompass, access to healthcare and will also protect against discrimination against people who have mental illness,” he said.
According to him, there is need for continuous and effective awareness creation to address the issues of stigmatisation.
“This is a major problem in developing world as regards mental health and that is why we are having programmes like this to create awareness with regards to mental health issues.
“This year, we are looking at mental health in the youth and this also brings us to mental health in Nigeria.
“My message to Nigerian youths is that they should be aware of certain mental illnesses.
“Because being aware on the type of mental health will enable them to identify it early and know when to seek help, that is why awareness programmes cannot be over emphasised,” Ogbolu said.
Ogunsola, in his remarks, said that government needed to provide a coordinated public education and awareness targeted at parents and teachers.
Ogunsola said that this would create necessary awareness for youths, as well as create solutions to leading causes of mental health illnesses amongst youths.
She said that there was need for increase in the availability of child and adolescent mental health services and resources in Nigeria.
“Right now, we do not have inpatient facilities where children who require admission will be admitted as most of the devices are for adults.
“We also need to reorganise the structure for mental health services with focus on child and mental health services as well as the other areas and aspects of mental health.
“These include general adult psychiatrist and also forensic psychiatrist, which are directed at people who commit offences under the influence of mental illness.
“Also, substance addiction psychiatrist is needed, because if we look at the present situation in Nigeria, many youths are addicted to substances.
“So, the key attention is needed to be directed at these areas in order to institute informed preventive and intervention strategies,” she said.
TheNewsGuru is published by Kingdom Media Network Int’l Nigeria Limited. TheNewsGuru, a multi-media company, started as Nigeria’s first comprehensive, real online newspaper, TheNewsGuru.com [read more]
ISSN: 3026-8362