Kaduna Extends Mental Health Screening

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has said mental health screening is now part of the normal maternal and child health services in State.

He said his administration was extending mental health screening services to 30 general hospitals and primary health care facilities in 23 local government areas.

He stated this at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital(FNPH), Barnawa, Kaduna yesterday to mark the 2026 World Mental Health Day themed: “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change.’’

Represented by the commissioner for health, Hajiya Umma K Ahmad, the governor disclosed that Kaduna State’s first cohort of 100 doctors, nurses and pharmacists, from 10 general hospitals had been certified under the World Health Organisation’s mhGAP programme.

The governor pointed out that the result of integrating mental health into primary and secondary health systems is a model of care that is human rights-focused, evidence-based and decentralised.
He stated that Kaduna State is the only sub national in Nigeria that had integrated mental health into the primary and secondary health systems.

Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Professor Aishatu Yusha’u Armiya’u, commended Governor Uba Sani for his administration’s huge investment in the health sector and other critical areas in the state.