Mental Health: Advocates Demand Better Data, Access To Care

Mental health advocates have raised concerns over gaps in the implementation of Nigeria’s Mental Health Act, citing the absence of a dedicated Department of Mental Health, inadequate data and limited access to quality care.

The advocates spoke at a mental health symposium organised to discuss mental health issues and commemorate World Mental Health Day.

The founder of the Mandate Health Empowerment Initiative and convener of the Association of Mental Health Reform Organisations in Africa (AMHAR), Ameh Zion Abba, said the passage of the National Mental Health Act had not translated into the level of reform expected by stakeholders.

Abba said that some of the legislation’s core objectives were yet to be implemented.

“We have seen that up until now, the issue around some of the core five objectives of that piece of legislation is still pending, and it is a problem,” he said.

He identified the absence of a Department of Mental Health within the Federal Ministry of Health as one of the major gaps, saying the department would provide strategic leadership for mental health funding, the domestication of the Act, and the implementation of mental health programmes.

Abba also identified the lack of comprehensive, up-to-date mental health data as another challenge facing the sector.

“We haven’t seen commitments from the government. We haven’t seen commitment from international donors and partners operating in Nigeria to give commitment to funding mental health research in the country,” he said.

He said the country also needed to address gaps in access to quality mental healthcare and the protection of the rights of persons with mental health conditions.

Abba noted that although mental health services had been integrated into some primary healthcare centres through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, more needed to be done to ensure access to the services.

He also called for improved treatment of people with mental health conditions in healthcare facilities, communities and families.

Founder of Mental Health With Ditty Foundation, Adedotun Esan, called for the integration of mental healthcare into primary healthcare and increased capacity to provide mental health first aid.

Esan also called for greater attention to mental health in workplaces and schools.

She said, “Mental health should become integrated into primary healthcare. Mental health needs to be in primary healthcare, and we can build capacity in people to provide mental first aid, and also for the workplace and schools.”

Earlier, Country Director, CDHR Global Disability Inclusion Nigeria, Abdulazeez Musa, said that people with lived experience of mental health conditions should have a greater role in shaping policies and programmes that affect them.

Musa, who spoke on the theme, “Whose Voices Shape Mental Health Policy in Nigeria?”, said policymakers needed to distinguish between participation and meaningful participation in mental health policymaking.

“Participation is inviting someone to attend a meeting. However, meaningful participation is ensuring that their views shape decisions that emerge from the meeting,” he said.

He urged policymakers and organisations to involve people affected by mental health conditions in policy design, programme implementation, monitoring and accountability.

According to him, people with lived experience possess knowledge that should be recognised in policymaking.

Musa said, “We must be careful not to confuse participation with meaningful participation. Participation gives someone a seat. Meaningful participation is influence.”

He also called for greater openness in discussing mental health, saying stigma and silence could make mental health challenges more difficult to address.

Also speaking, co-founder of Women in Public Health Leadership for Africa, Dr Charity Usifo Chenge, said Nigeria had made progress in discussions on mental health but needed to move from policy development to implementation.

Chenge said the country now had both a policy framework and an Act, adding that stakeholders needed to address what she described as the “know-do gap”.

“Now we have an Act. It’s time to act. We need to begin to act out the policy using the power that the Act has given us,” she said.

She stressed the importance of primary healthcare in implementing mental health policies, saying integration at that level was crucial because it was where most Nigerians accessed healthcare.

Change also called for sustained awareness efforts to reduce stigma and encourage people to speak about mental health.