Prioritise Mental Health, Psychiatrist Urges Govts, Private Sector 

A Consultant Psychiatrist, Prof. Taiwo Sheikh, has called on government at all levels, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to truly consider mental health as a priority.
Sheikh, the immediate past President of Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), made the call in an interview with The Tide’s source in Lagos.
He said there is need for serious investments in mental health care in order to avoid crisis.
Sheikh said that governments should pay attention to mental health of the citizens by ensuring the availability of quality mental health facilities and services.
He decried the poor state of the few existing psychiatric hospitals/facilities and urged government at all levels to intensify more efforts towards the establishment of more psychiatric hospitals across the country.
“When you look at mental health programming within Nigeria, traditionally like anywhere else in the world, it has been poorly funded over the years.
“Most states in the country do not have a functional psychiatric hospital, while our few existing psychiatric hospitals are dilapidated, and we have very few specialised cadres,” he said.
Sheikh said that the establishment of more psychiatric hospitals became necessary due to the increasing cases of mental illness in the country as the mental health facilities available were inadequate to cater for the rising cases.
The psychiatrist attributed the rising cases of mental illness to drug abuse, stress, economic downturn, unemployment, inadequate finances, depression and effects of COVID-19 pandemic.