Psychiatrists lament rising cases of mental disorder

The Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari to give assent to the Mental Health Bill, which it said had been passed by the National Assembly.

It described the increasing cases of mental illness among Nigerians as a national crisis and called for the incorporation of mental health into primary healthcare to improve access and address stigma

The President of the association, Prof Taiwo Obindo, who made the call in an interview with our correspondent on Friday, said the bill would regulate the practice of psychiatry, how people who are mentally ill would be handled humanely and would be an improvement on the one promulgated in 1902 and reviewed in 1958.

The House of Representatives had on Thursday directed its Committee on Health Institutions and Healthcare Services to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Health towards improving mental health facilities across Nigeria.

A member of the House, Uchechukwu Nnam-Obi, said the House was worried that Nigeria had only 130 psychiatrists with over 20 million citizens suffering from mental disorders, adding that the continued lack of a legal framework on mental health in the country would cause the situation to degenerate.

But Obindo said, “Surely, the issue of mental illness is a major challenge. Those figures (WHO figures) were actually obtained some years back before the recent incessant kidnapping, Boko Haram attacks and all that. You can be sure that the figure would be higher now.”

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He said, “The Mental Health Bill is on his (the President’s) table and all we can do is to create awareness towards the signing of that bill. The law that governs mental health and practice is the one promulgated in 1902 and reviewed in 1958. So, that needs to be changed and we should have a new law that governs how, where and who will access the care.

Also speaking, a professor of Psychiatry at Ahmadu Bello University, Prof Taiwo Sheikh, and a consultant psychiatrist, Dr. Arit Esangbedo, identified brain drain, dearth of facilities, inequality in the health sector and insecurity as factors responsible for the lack of adequate manpower to provide mental health services in the country.

They also described the situation as a burden on the few mental health workers available across the country.