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Abuja – Concerned about the heavy burden of mental disorders in the country, health sector actors insisted on the need to fight against poverty, unemployment and the hardships experienced by Nigerians in order to put an end to this problem.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the meeting of the Mental Health Action Committee and Stakeholders on the theme "Strategies for revitalizing mental health services in Nigeria", the chairman of the committee Mental Health Action of the Federal Ministry of Health, Professor Okoye Gureje, has needed to tackle the poverty and unemployment of Nigerians, some of whom may affect mental health.
He said, "We have to think in terms of promotion, prevention, and treatment, let's talk about prevention, we all know that some of the things that happen in the country are very powerful reasons for people to become psychologically. For example, in the north-east where we have an insurgency, this is an area in which people can expect their health to be affected mentally and physically.
We must act on the social determinants of health, such as poverty, lack of jobs, hardship, and all those issues that cause a lot of depression, especially chronic distress.
Some of the things that they must do for mental health are also similar to what they must do for physical health, such as lifestyle issues, not to consume substances that may be harmful to the body. . All of these things that can be beneficial to physical health can be good for mental health. "
He lamented that Nigeria, in terms of dealing with mental problems, has very little human resources. Gureje observed that Nigeria, which has 192 million inhabitants, has about two hundred psychiatrists, or about one psychiatrist per million people.
"In the other part of the world, for example in Western Europe, we have ten psychiatrists for hundreds of thousands of people, so you see that and that means we will not have enough psychiatrists for a long time. But that's not the problem The problem is that we should use the resources we have and that we can do it in different ways, "he added.
According to Gureje, "we have a situation where we do not have enough mental resources for mental health, especially in terms of psychiatric specialists, psychiatrists and social workers." We have nothing like this. that they should have.
Abdullaziz Mashi Abdullahi, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, represented by the senior technical assistant of the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Mfon Bassey, said the meeting was necessary to improve the health of Nigerians.
"It is in this context that it is imperative to convene this meeting as a national strategy to address mental health problems in Nigeria with a view to improving the overall health of the country."
Abdullahi noted that a policy for the provision of mental health services had been developed with several key provisions, including the creation of an organ within the Federal Ministry of Health to focus on the problems. mental health.
"Some of the relevant questions are how to approach and dialogue with stakeholders about the burden of mental health, integrate them into mental health policy, identify ways to speed up the enactment of mental health legislation. and modalities for resuscitation of national action in mental health committee for coordinating the activities of different stakeholders on mental health and psychosocial support in Nigeria. "
Dr. Nnenna Ezeigwe, Director of Public Health and represented by the National Coordinator for Noncommunicable Diseases, said: "In Nigeria, it is estimated that 20 to 30 per cent of our populations suffer from mental disorders, Given the situation current economic situation, the above statistics are overwhelming and in light of the recent suicidal episodes recorded in parts of Lagos (which are obviously only the tip of the iceberg), forces us to rethink our attitudes toward mental health and challenges our current status quo. "
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