More than 60 million Nigerians suffer from mental diseases, according to Prof. Taiwo Obindo, President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria (APN).
Obindo recently spoke with journalists and remarked during the interview
“Mental healthcare is in a sorry state given that we have more than 60 million Nigerians suffering from various mental illnesses and the fact that only about 10 per cent of them were able to access appropriate care.
We are left with more than 90 per cent who are unable to access care and this group is called the treatment gap for mental illnesses,’’ Obindo said.
He claimed that a number of reasons, including a lack of awareness about the origins and treatments of mental diseases, contributed to the difference.
Myths and traditional beliefs, a lack of sufficient mental health facilities, and a shortage of mental health specialists, according to Obindo, are among issues that hamper the care of mental illness in Nigeria. He claimed that the few mental health institutions that were accessible were found in the urban cores.
