THE PRESIDENT AND MENTAL HEALTH

President Buhari should sign the mental health bill into law 

The overriding objective of the World Mental Health Day being marked today is not only to raise awareness of a challenge that afflicts hundreds of millions but also to mobilise efforts in support of the afflicted. Sadly, this is a challenge that has not been given due attention in Nigeria despite its prevalence. Just last month, the President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN), Taiwo Obindo raised the alarm that at least 60 million Nigerians were living with one form of mental disorder or the other. To deal with this problem, we must integrate mental health into primary health care across local governments in the country. We must also ensure that every general hospital has a department for mental health with accompanying psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and psychologists.  

 Mental illness is usually attributed to three factors: biological, including genes or brain chemistry; family history and life experiences, such as trauma or abuse. Only last week, the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, disclosed that, unknown to many people, her husband actually suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for several years following his involvement in Nigeria’s civil war without rehabilitation, and 40 months detention without charge, following his overthrow as head of state in a coup. PTSD is a mental health condition which (like many others) is treatable.  

  With only eight federal neuropsychiatric hospitals in the country, serious budget constraints, exodus of most experts in the field who seek greener pastures abroad, and ignorance, it comes as no surprise that mental illness is on the rampage in Nigeria. A May 2022 report suggests that the country has less than 300 psychiatrists. To make matters worse, the country is still operating a mental health policy document of 1907 tagged the ‘Lunacy Act’– a document it picked up from countries that have longed abolished it. This archaic document considers mental illness as an embarrassment and a disturbance to the society and therefore recommends that people with mental illnesses are kept away in asylum without specific care.  

  As depressing as Nigeria’s mental health situation shows, there are surprisingly little efforts made to change the narrative, especially in the area of policy adjustment. For instance, the Mental Health Bill passed by the National Assembly since 2020 has been on President Muhammadu Buhari’s table since July 2021. It is yet to be assented to despite the robust changes this will bring to mental health care in Nigeria. The bill had aimed to put mental health conditions on community-based coverages, integrate mental health into primary healthcare, establish Mental Health Service Department, increase funding, ensure general hospitals have psychiatrists in their employment, among others.   

To successfully deal with this problem, the authorities must do more to address the issue of stigma while an awareness campaign is also important for the prevention of social habits that are detrimental to mental health, especially among young people. According to health professionals, mental health includes the emotional, psychological, and social well-being of people and they affect the way such individuals think, feel and behave. There are more than 200 classified forms of mental illness, but the most common disorder is depression. 

  As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to commemorate this year’s Mental Health Day, President Buhari should dust this bill from the shelf and sign it into law. It is an important legislation that ought not to have been treated with levity. Aside from going through three public hearings, there were significant inputs from major stakeholders in the health sector and development partners. The president should make signing the bill into law his parting gift since he will be out of office by the next World Mental Health Day.