Health
Open Letter To Health Minister, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate On Nigeria’s Mental Health Crisis, By Halima Layeni
According to Halima Layeni, less than 10% of mentally ill Nigerians have access to the care they need. This is not just a statistic; it is a damning indictment of our collective failure to prioritize mental health as a fundamental aspect of overall well-being.
Dear Honorable Minister for Health,
I pen this letter to you with a heavy heart, but also with a fervent hope for change. As the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, you shoulder the immense responsibility of safeguarding the well-being of every Nigerian. Yet, amidst the myriad challenges we face as a nation, one issue stands out as a glaring indictment of our collective failure: the state of mental health care in Nigeria.
In a country of over 200 million people, we have fewer than 150 psychiatrists. Let that sobering fact sink in. Less than 150 specialists are tasked with addressing the mental health needs of a population grappling with the stresses of modern life, compounded by poverty, conflict, and inequality.
According to the WHO, less than 10% of mentally ill Nigerians have access to the care they need. This is not just a statistic; it is a damning indictment of our collective failure to prioritize mental health as a fundamental aspect of overall well-being.
To put this into perspective, let us compare our situation to that of other nations: In the United States, there are approximately 28,000 psychiatrists serving a population of 330 million people. In the United Kingdom, there are 12,300 psychiatrists for a population of 68 million. The disparity is stark, and it is unacceptable.
Numbers alone do not tell the full story. We must also confront the systemic issues that have hampered our efforts to provide adequate mental health care.
First and foremost, we must address the chronic underfunding of mental health services. Year after year, mental health budgets languish at the bottom of the priority list, starved of the resources they need to function effectively. This must change. We cannot hope to build a healthy, prosperous society without investing in the mental well-being of our citizens.
Equally pressing is the issue of inadequate facilities and infrastructure. Too often, those in need of mental health care are forced to travel long distances to access overstretched hospitals and clinics, only to find that essential medications and treatments are in short supply. We must invest in the expansion and modernization of our mental health infrastructure, ensuring that care is accessible to all who need it.
But perhaps most damning of all is the failure to implement existing laws and policies designed to protect the rights of individuals with mental health conditions. Our National Mental Health Policy, enacted in 2013, lays out a comprehensive framework for promoting mental health and ensuring access to quality care. Yet, too often, these lofty aspirations remain unrealized.
We cannot ignore the issue of men’s mental health. Traditional gender norms dictate that men should be stoic and strong, leading many to suffer in silence rather than seek help for their mental health issues. We must work to dismantle these harmful stereotypes and create a culture where men feel comfortable seeking support when they need it most.
As Minister for Health and Social Welfare, you have the power to effect change. You have the opportunity to reshape our nation’s approach to mental health care, to tear down the barriers that have long stood in the way of progress. But you cannot do it alone.
I call upon you to marshal the resources of your ministry, to rally support from across the government and civil society, and to lead by example in the fight for mental health equity. Together, we can build a future where every Nigerian has access to the care and support they need to thrive—a future where mental health is not just an afterthought, but a fundamental pillar of our national identity.
The time for action is now. The stakes could not be higher. Let us rise to the challenge, and in doing so, create a brighter, healthier future for all Nigerians.
Halima Layeni
Founder & Executive Director
Life After Abuse Foundation
The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory Administration on Monday began an indefinite strike on Monday.
This was disclosed in a communique issued by the ARD-FCT on Monday, signed by its President, Dr. George Ebong, and General-Secretary, Dr. Agbor Affiong.
The association had embarked on a seven-day warning strike last Monday to press home its demands, following months of unresolved negotiations with the FCTA.
Details later.
Health
Overworked RSUTH Resident Doctor Slump, Dies on Duty
What happened is that he was on call in the Emergency Room. Afterward, he went to the call room to rest, and it was there that he died. Unfortunately, he was the only one attending to the patients.
Dr Oluwafemi Rotifa, a young resident doctor at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH) collapsed and died after a gruelling 72-hour call duty.
Ohibaba.com reliably gathered that the deceased doctor, fondly called Femoski by colleagues, was a former President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association, PUMSA, and was registered with the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council, awaiting placement abroad.
The President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, Dr. Tope Osundara, who confirmed Rotifa’s death, said that the deceased doctor had been on continuous call duty for three days in the Emergency Room before he retreated to the call room to rest.
It was there that he slumped and later died, despite efforts to resuscitate him in the Intensive Care Unit.
“What happened is that he was on call in the Emergency Room. Afterward, he went to the call room to rest, and it was there that he died. Unfortunately, he was the only one attending to the patients.
“The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. It was a death on duty,” Osundara lamented.
From manipulated images to out-of-context photos, false claims that Donald Trump is seriously ill — or even dead — have swirled online, with the misinformation persisting even after the US president publicly rejected it on Tuesday.
At a White House press conference, Trump dismissed social media rumours about his health as “fake news,” following the 79-year-old’s noticeable absence from public appearances and press events last week.
Since last Friday, there were around 104,000 mentions of the hashtag “Trump dead” on the Elon Musk-owned platform X, generating a cumulative 35.3 million views, according to an analysis from the misinformation watchdog NewsGuard.
Some social media users cited online maps purportedly showing road closures near Maryland’s Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre as evidence that Trump was being treated for a serious ailment at the facility.
But there were no credible reports of road closures around the medical facility.
Other social media users shared an image of an ambulance parked outside the White House, claiming it was taken last month and citing it as evidence of a health crisis involving Trump.
It was actually an old photo posted by a journalist on X in April 2023 — while Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, was still in office, according to NewsGuard.
Some users claiming that Trump was dead shared an out-of-context image of the White House flag flying at half-staff, a traditional gesture used to honour the death of a prominent official.
In reality, Trump had issued a proclamation last week ordering flags at the White House, military posts, and naval stations across the country to be lowered in honour of the victims of a school shooting in Minneapolis.
Some users also posted a zoomed-in image of Trump’s face, claiming it showed a deep line above his eye that indicated a recent stroke.
But NewsGuard found that the original image was out of focus and showed no signs of a line over Trump’s eye. The image used in the false posts was digitally enhanced using an AI tool.
The misinformation — which appeared to originate from liberal anti-Trump accounts on X, Bluesky, and Instagram — persisted even after Trump stated on Truth Social over the weekend: “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE.”
The falsehoods continued to circulate following Trump’s press conference on Tuesday, where he publicly dismissed the health rumours.
Shortly after the conference, one Bluesky account falsely claimed that the “White House just announced” the president was dead.
The falsehoods highlight how facts are increasingly under assault on a misinformation-filled internet landscape, an issue exacerbated by public distrust of institutions and traditional media.
The health of US presidents has always been closely watched, but with the White House seeing its two oldest ever occupants since 2017, the scrutiny is now heavier than ever.
Trump — the oldest man ever to be elected US president — has alleged that Democrats covered up the mental and physical decline of Biden, who was 82 when he left office in January.
Biden’s health was a key issue in the 2024 election, and the then-president was forced to drop his campaign for a second term after a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
AFP
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