By Kayode Idowu, Maiduguri
Borno State Government and World Health Organisation have released a mental
health strategic framework implementation plan to combat the high rate of
mental illnesses in the troubled state brought about by the decade old Boko
Haram crisis.
Speaking during the release of the document on Wednesday in Maiduguri, the WHO
Mental Health Specialist, Dr, Isaac Bwatin lamented that mental health
disorders and psychological problems are often heightened in disasters and
emergency situations.
He said: “The horrors, losses, and uncertainties experienced, as well as
numerous other stressors related to these distresses, place people at greater
risk of suffering from and being affected by mental health problems.”
He decried that: “The insurgent activities in Borno State, which is the worse
hit has resulted in number of vulnerable populace developing mental health
conditions and psychological problems in a context of a weak mental health
system.”
The WHO specialist noted that: “Vulnerable populace with pre-exist mental
health conditions and social problems for example indigent people with depression,
psychosis or post-traumatic stress disorder find it difficult to access to
evidence based mental health care.”
He said: “WHO has recognized that mental health is crucial to the overall
well-being, functioning, and resilience of populations recovering from
emergencies, and is committed to assisting the (Borno) state and Nigeria as a
whole to strengthen mental health care.”
He said: “This insurgency in spite of its tragic nature and adverse effect on
mental health, have created an unparalleled opportunity to build better mental
health systems for all people in need. The surge of aid, combined with sudden,
focused attention on mental health of the population, have created
opportunities to transform mental health care for the long term.”
Also speaking at the launch, the Director, Emergency Medical Response and
Humanitarian Services, Borno State Ministry of Health, Dr. Baba Shehu, in his
opening remark, said: “The implementation plan became important because of the
trauma people in Borno State have gone through in the last couple of years
because of Boko Haram crisis.”
The WHO lamented that despite the global burden of mental disorders, health
systems have not yet adequately responded to the burden of mental disorders; as
a consequence, the gap between the need for treatment and its provision is
large all over the world,.
It said between 76% and 85% of the people with severe mental disorders receive
no treatment for their disorder in low-income and middle-income countries; the
corresponding range for high-income countries is between 35% and 59%.
It lamented that a further compounding problem was the poor quality of care for
those receiving treatment.
