Mental Health: Nigeria Has Only 200 Psychiatrists, Says APN

The Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN) yesterday said that less than 200 psychiatrists attend to the mental health needs of well over 200 million Nigerians.

The president of APN, Prof. Taiwo Obindo disclosed this at the 55th Annual General Conference and Scientific Meeting of the association in Ilorin, Kwara State.

The conference was themed : “Prioritizing Mental Health Needs of Nigeria in a Depressed Economy: An Urgent Call For Integrated, Comprehensive And Sustainable Interventions.”

Obindo observed that the “japa syndrome” has largely depleted the mental health workforce in the country.

Obindo said that the mental health workers were being overworked and had poor remuneration, so the situation must be remedied.

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He added that mental health has yet to be accorded the needed attention by the government while citing the example of Canada, which has a functional Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions.

“Mental health in Nigeria is still a programme under the Department of Public Health in the Federal Ministry of Health. One other area needing attention is the budgetary allocation to health, and by extension, the mental health, which is less than six  percent.

“This falls short of the Abuja Declaration of 2001, where health allocation was to be pegged at a minimum of 15 percent of every country’s annual budget,” he said.

He called for the implementation of the Mental Health Act of 2021, which replaced the Lunacy Act of 1958.

In his lecture, Prof. Owoidoho Udofia, of the University of Calabar, said: “Study showed 12 percent of Nigerians have mental and behavioural disorder”.

“Mental illness makes up less than 30 percent of the burden in teaching hospitals in Nigeria. The illness is not only restricted to schizophrenia and psychosis. Substance use is high and there is need to improve diagnosis.

“There is also need to improve on the rates, as there is poor identification and research,” he said.