To this effect, the Nigerian government has said it is planning to train non-specialists and primary healthcare providers on how to provide evidence-based treatment to persons suffering from nine priority mental, neurological and substance use disorders.
The plan was revealed by the Chairman, Mental Health Action Committee,
Federal Ministry of Health, Prof. Oye Gureje. He said the reason behind the decision of the health ministry is the dearth
of psychiatrists in the country.
"Currently, one psychiatrist attends to a million people," he said.
Speaking in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital at
the inauguration of the Mental Health Gap Action Programme - a public
health intervention mechanism for peace and socio-economic
transformation in the South-South region, he said that one of the recommendations
of the World Health Organisation was the training of primary care
providers, who constitute the end users of the intervention guide.
“Effective and well-conducted
training is particularly necessary where the end users of the guide are
mostly non-physician community health workers, as is the case in
Nigeria,” he said.
"A study conducted by WHO
suggested that about 75 per cent of persons in need of mental health
service do not get the care they deserve.
“It is no surprise that studies
conducted in the country have found that only about 20 per cent of
persons with common but serious mental disorders, such as depression
with suicidal risk, had received any treatment in the previous 12
months.
“Among those who did, only 10 per cent
received what can be regarded as minimally adequate treatment. Studies
have also shown that it often takes an average of six years for persons
who eventually get treatment to do so from the time of illness onset.”
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