Mental health crisis: Fewer than 300 psychiatrists serve over 200m Nigerians — Sheikh

… Demands urgent implementation of Mental Health Act, stronger funding

By Chioma Obinna

A Professor of Psychiatry at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Taiwo Lateef Sheikh, has said that Nigeria is facing a deepening mental health crisis, with fewer than 300 psychiatrists available to serve a population of over 200 million people.

Sheikh, a member of the Advisory Committee to Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa CDC, said the severe shortage of mental health professionals, inadequate funding and poor access to community-based services were widening the gap between Nigerians who need mental healthcare and those who receive it.

He spoke at the Mental Health Leadership and Advocacy Public Lecture, where he called for urgent implementation of the Mental Health Act and stronger policy, financing and legislative reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s mental health system.