The President, Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, Prof. Taiwo Obindo, has said the country currently have a ratio of one qualified psychiatric doctor to about a million Nigerians.
He spoke on the sidelines of the ongoing 53rd Annual General and Scientific Meeting of all psychiatric doctors in Nigeria holding at Federal Neuropsychiatric, Hospital, Enugu .
He said :“This development has made accessibility and deliverability of psychiatric care relatively difficult in the country,’’
The four days meeting, which started on Nov. 23, is themed: “Insecurity and Forced Displacement: Mental Health and Psychological Implication”.
Obindo revealed that about two-third of yearly well-trained and certified psychiatric doctors leave the country annually; adding in psychiatric hospitals qualified psychiatric doctors leave the country in drove, thus; creating the negative situation currently.
“The standard is that one psychiatric doctor should take care of 10,000 patients; but today, we have one psychiatric doctor to over one million Nigerians.As we speak now, we are having less than 250 certified psychiatric doctors throughout the whole country and more are leaving by the day,” he lamented.
He advocated the need for the passage of National Mental Health Bill (amended) to give proper process and administration of mental health treatment and other issues relating to mental health, which included adequate funding and enumeration of its professionals.
“Mental healthcare should be incorporated into the primary healthcare system to cater for the primary and secondary institutions treating mental health disorder in localities.Presently, the little budget meant for mental health treatment goes to the tertiary institutions only.
“Mental health should be fully taken care at the Primary Healthcare Centres to save Nigerians transport, feeding and accommodation cost as well as stress of conveying a mental ill relative to urban centres where psychiatric hospitals are found,” he said.
Prof. Monday Igwe, the Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric, Hospital, Enugu, said that insecurity was becoming a major cause of mental trauma and stress for some Nigerians.
Igwe, who is also the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the meeting, said that traumatic condition caused by insecurity and forced displaced can further lead to psychological imbalance, depression and suicide.
“It is time we put the psychological and psychiatric needs of these people into serious consideration and ensure that they pass through their ordeal with renewed hope that tomorrow will be better,” he added.