An Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Mandate Health Empowerment Initiative, (MHEI) has again reiterated the need to prioritise mental health issues in the country.
The founder and President of MHEI, Mr. Ameh Abba Zion, made the statement on Friday at an event tagged: Public presentation on the outcome /Findings: The Adolescent Mental Health Capacity Building Project Close Up Event held in Abuja.
The Programme is funded by the European Union (EU) with support from the British Council and other donors.
At the event, beneficiaries of the capacity building programme and their Counsellors drawn from schools across Abuja and FCT were awarded certificates of participation.
Decrying the situation, the NGO noted that lack of mental health data, policy and attention given to it in the country requires utmost reforms, and has therefore urged the Federal Government and stakeholders in the country to look into the issue.
While reeling out statistics at the programme, Ameh said one out of every one female goes through postpartum depression and that one out of every five Nigerians would experience depression in their lifetime, saying it was huge and disturbing.
“More worrisome is the fact that in every forty second, someone somewhere is dying by suicide yet with few programmes going on around mental health issues in the country.
“The glaring statistics around mental health and the Nigerian citizens, saying that the general global statistics from the global corridor that over Four hundred million people has gone down with clinical depression and may likely commits a suicide has further made mental health matter difficult to push off,” he said.
Also speaking, FCT Focal Person, EU Funded Agent For Citizen-Driven Transformation, Seyi Tetteh, lauded the NGO for trying to address the issue at an early stage, saying enough attention beyond just prayers must be given to mental health.
“Starting early and taking advantage of the students who are mostly going through these challenges is key as peer pressure, social media and things like drug abuse have contributed to the scourge largely.
“So, they are going through a lot and I believe this has given an opportunity to access care so they can contribute their quota to national development,” Tetteh said.
Tetteh then urged NGOs, stakeholders and the government to create a better awareness on health issues and policies going forward.
Dr. Ojo Tunde from the Federal Ministry of Health expressed the ministry readiness to imbibe a multi-sectoral approach in not only prioritising mental health, but also take the conversation to homes, schools and the society at large.
In a brief remark, another stakeholder, Larathu Abdulsalam, restated that issues and discussions around mental health are real, urging parents to look inward and listen more to their wards.
