Mental health service reform vital for ensuring universal health coverage for Nigeria

THE Director of the World Health Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences, and Substance Abuse, Professor Oye Gureje, has said that Nigeria’s promise of universal health coverage will only become a reality when the necessary financial policy and attitudinal attention are directed at driving the much-needed mental health service reform in the country.

Professor Gureje, in the 25th Annual Benjamin Oluwakayode Osuntokun Memorial lecture entitled “An Overview of the Mental Health of Nigerians” in Ibadan, said the promise of universal health coverage is envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals that Nigeria has committed itself to, but there is a huge gap in the extant mental health service in the country.

Gureje, a former president of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, linked the gaps in Nigeria’s extant mental health service to poor financing, inadequate policy attention, scarcity of human and material resources, and generally insufficient awareness of the importance of providing effective promotion, prevention, and treatment services.

“Nevertheless, even with the currently available level of resources, much can still be done to meet the need of the population for quality mental healthcare. Much of the evidence required for doing this is now available and requires policy uptake,” he added.

The don declared that the prevalence and pattern of mental disorders in Nigeria are not substantially different from what applies in much of the world, but there is a need for more epidemiological studies to track the occurrence and guide actions in responding to the constantly changing profile of mental disorders needs.

But in 12 months, about 79% of them will not have received any care. Among treated cases, only 10 percent received minimally adequate treatment, and only about 6 per cent do so in the first year of illness onset.”

Professor Gureje declared that mental disorders are more disabling than many common chronic physical conditions, and the global burden of mental disorders, mostly from disability and functional limitation, is not only high but also increasing

By Sade Oguntola

Mental health service reform vital for ensuring universal health coverage for Nigeria