Mental Health: Association seeks full implementation of new Act

On May 23, 2024

The Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria has called for full implementation of the new Mental Health Act to replace the outdated Lunacy Act.

Prof. Taiwo Obindo, the association’s National President, and other stakeholders made the call at the National Mental Health Act Sensitisation workshop held in Abeokuta.

The workshop was organised by the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria in collaboration with the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, and Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

Obindo said that the outdated Lunacy Act treated individuals with mental health conditions inhumanely.

He said that under the old lunacy law, many atrocities were committed in which individuals with mental health issues were often treated like trash.

Obindo, a consultant at Jos University Teaching Hospital, decried the inhuman treatment meted out to mental health patients under the old law.
He said, “People were just kept away from others, tied down, chained and denied any form of care.

“The primary aim was merely to separate them from those deemed normal.

“However, the reality is that everyone with a brain is at risk of developing mental health conditions at some point in their lives.
“Therefore, we must take care of them.”

According to him, one of the significant strides of the new Mental Health Act is its emphasis on human rights and the abolition of discriminatory practices.

Obindo noted that under the Lunacy Act, individuals with mental health conditions could be unjustly dismissed from their jobs or evicted from their homes.

He added that communities could even ostracise them, saying such actions were unacceptable.

“In the past, properties of those with mental health conditions can be taken over. The new Act ensures that this is no longer possible,” he explained.

While some states like Lagos and Ekiti had already domesticated the Mental Health Act, Obindo insisted that implementation must begin at the national level.

“If, the Federal Government can implement it effectively, establish the Department of Mental Health Services within the ministry, create the Mental Health Assessment Committee, and set up the mental health fund, then states and local governments will follow suit.

“The mental health fund is crucial, as it will provide necessary funding through budgetary allocations, voluntary donations, and contributions from corporate organisations.

“This fund aims at ensuring that mental health care is adequately resourced and accessible to all who need it,” he said.

The professor emphasised the comprehensive nature of the new Mental Health Act, saying that it guaranteed the rights of individuals with mental health conditions to quality care without discrimination or stigma.

Meanwhile, Dr Paul Agboola, the Provost and Medical Director, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, commended former President Muhammadu Buhari, for signing the new Mental Health Act into law.

Agboola maintained that much effort had been made before the new Mental Health Act was passed into law.

“Several attempts have been made by the previous arms of the legislature since 1999, but we thank God that the last legislative sitting was able to get it into law,” he said.

Speaking on the expectations of the stakeholders after the workshop, Agboola said that there was a plan to domesticate the Act in Ogun State.

He stated that the Act would shape medical practices, adding that anyone who ran foul of the law was liable to face prosecution.

He called on the public to get familiar with their rights as contained in the Act and also to let the state and local governments know that certain rights are embedded in that Act.

While reviewing the Act, Dr. Yesir Kareem, a Consultant Psychiatrist for Health Security at Aro, highlighted the transformative nature of the Act, saying it had been over two decades in the making.

“We started this journey in 2003, and by 2023, we finally have an Act that has been accepted by the Federal Government,” Kareem said.