|
LAGOS, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — Nigeria’s Medical Association (NMA) on Thursday advocated for free treatment of mental related illness in the country.
This would further reduce the increased rate of the sickness in Nigeria, Francis Faduyile, NMA’s president said in Akure, a southwest city of Nigeria.
He spoke during inauguration of “Carry My Cross Mental Health Center”, a non-governmental organization aimed to provide services to patients of mental health illness.
Faduyile said issues of mental health should be taken serious by stakeholders as being done on HIV treatment.
He added that there should be mental health units in all health facilities, saying that all psychiatric hospitals should be turned into rehabilitation centers.
According to him, hands must be joined with mental health specialists toward advocacy for better mental health services and passage of mental health bill at parliament in the interest of promoting safer society.
Faduyile asked for training and retraining of health workers from the primary through tertiary healthcare levels with recruitment of needed mental health specialists for the mental well being of the nation.
He condemned act of discrimination and stigmatization against people living with mental sickness.
The president of NMA added that it was incumbent upon society to help young people develop mental resilience from early age, in order to cope with the challenges of today’s world.
XINHUA
|
