By Tina George, Minna
A neurologist and Director, Health Services with Bingham University, Dr Julius Adetunji has observed that there are inadequate psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria that could cater for the country’s mental health needs.
According to him, the 20 psychiatric hospitals in Nigeria can no longer meet up with the demand and attention for mental health treatment and diagnosis, calling for government to build more.
Adetunji stated this while speaking at a Global Engagement Outreach 2021, organised to sensitize communities and schools on building better mental health.
Taking an insight into the care of the brain at the Department of Physiology, Bingham University, Karu, he said that given the population of the country, there is a need for 50 psychiatric hospitals adding, “but we do not have anything close to that yet in the country”.
Adetunji, who is a consultant neurologist also called for the government at all levels to implement a mental health policy to address the mental health of the people.
“Mental health policies will look at how the government will chart interventional programmes to address mental health issues in the country. We need to focus more on mental health promotion and prevention as supposed to treatment; this is why the policy is very important.”
The University Don frowned at the inhumane ways people that have mental health problems are treated by people who use traditional method to treat these issues.
“You don’t just flog people as a therapeutic measure or as a means of treating them; you are just dehumanizing them the more and increasing the mental health problems.
“These people using traditional methods do not treat them; they only drive more fears into them. What they do is not treatment at all,” Adetunji said.
Speaking at the Outreach, the Convener, Dr Angela Danborno explained that the outreach is to bring to the knowledge of the community, that brain health is crucial to humans and to sensitize the community on how they can take care of their mental health.
Danborno, who is a lecturer and a Neuro-Scientist in the Department of Physiology, Bingham University Karu, explained that many people know how to take care of other parts of their bodies but neglect the brain without knowing that the brain controls every part of the body.
“The brain is at the centre of what humans are and what we do. The brain helps to regulate our body’s basic functions, it enables us to interpret and respond to everything we experience and it shapes our behaviour.
“Brain health is crucial for our ability to think, feel and live a healthy life and your brain is you”, she said.
Danborno said that the outreach was done under a grant from the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) to drive the knowledge for the care of the brain and maintaining healthy mental health in society.
Over 150 people drawn from various communities in Nasarawa state were sensitized about how to take care of the brain and have healthy mental health.
