Stakeholders Want Action On Mental Health

Stakeholders have called for action on mental health as a cross-cutting priority to address what they described as the worsening mental health indices in Nigeria.

At Abuja’s 4th edition of The Intersect Consortium’s flagship, The Conversation Conference, they highlighted the urgent need for integrated, systemic action on mental health across multiple societal dimensions.

This year’s conference has the theme: “Mental Health as a Cross-Cutting Priority for Adolescent, Maternal Wellbeing and Response to Gender-Based Violence (GBV).”

At the event, Senator Grace Bent asked the federal government to take stronger, more deliberate action on mental health, particularly in addressing the mental well-being of vulnerable populations such as women, adolescents and survivors of GBV.

She said mental health should no longer be sidelined. She specifically tasked Senator Ipalibo Harry Banigo to lead more robust and frequent conversations at the federal level, leveraging her position to champion lasting policy reforms.

Earlier in her remarks, the event’s chairman, Senator Banigo, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, reaffirmed the Upper House’s commitment to creating enabling policies that would foster greater investment and integration of mental health services within Nigeria’s primary healthcare system.

Also, the managing director of Intersect Consortium, Dr Vincent Udenze, spoke extensively on the importance of mental health discourse, explaining that this year’s theme was chosen to emphasise how mental health intersects with multiple social and health challenges.

He said, “You cannot address maternal mortality, adolescent development, or gender-based violence effectively without tackling the mental health components that underpin them.”

The panel sessions delved into the challenges of accessing mental health care, the link between trauma, Gender-based Violence (GBV) and the mental health implications of adolescent neglect and maternal health disparities.