Whilst health has scarcely ever been a Legislative priority in Nigeria, mental health in particular has received an infinitesimal level of attention in law and policy making. The Lunacy Act, dating from a 1916 Ordinance, is the extant federal law on mental health. Although it provides a process for involuntary commitment, its references to ‘lunatics’ […]
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking – 26 June Today marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a day so designated by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1987 to curb drug abuse, worldwide. A recent report on drug use in Nigeria shows that more than 14 million people […]
Female Genital Mutilation: “Why mutilate me?”
I do know how difficult it must be to feel like you haven’t achieved anything. Anytime Kunle makes love to me, I see it in his eyes….everytime! I see how downcast he looks and I recognize the disappointment. I know my husband and it’s been seven years of living with this wonderful man. Yet, our […]
A Step towards Tackling Open Defecation in Nigeria: Executive Order 009
Open defecation. Source: thenationonlineng.net Earlier in the year, a Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH NORM) survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) showed the prevalence of open defecation in Nigeria. This survey ranked Nigeria as the African country with the highest number of population still practicing open defecation and the second ranking […]
Eliminating Trans Fat in Nigeria: “Legislate or Regulate”
The Word Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 7 in every 10 deaths that occurs annually are often caused by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), out of which deaths by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) from trans fat intake account for 500, 000 deaths, globally. In Nigeria, specifically, a significant number of deaths linked to cardiovascular diseases are […]
World Mental Health Day, 2017: The Time to Address Mental Health in Nigeria is Now
Recent events in Nigeria have brought to the fore the need to pay attention to mental health issues in the country. The suicide of a doctor on Third Mainland Bridge in March 2017, the suicides and attempted suicides of young persons in universities in the country, and the attempted suicides of older women in Lagos, […]
CHELD appointed to the National Technical Working Group on the National Health Act, 2014
One of the highlights for universal health coverage in Nigeria and for using the instrumentality of law to promote better health outcomes was the passage and the Presidential Assent to the National Health Act, in late 2014. There is much hope that this Act will fulfil its promises to ensure that every Nigeria receives a […]
Nigeria’s National Health Act and the Promise of Universal Health Coverage
Recently, I found myself stupefied by a statement by Dr Femi Thomas, the Executive Director of the NHIS on the amounts spent on health versus the amounts needed for universal health coverage in Nigeria. Currently we expend about 2.5 trillion naira, which includes premiums for national health plans, monies spent out of pockets and various […]
Violence Against Women in Nigeria and the Need for a Women’s Fund
It is early in 2015 but several cases of domestic abuse and violence have already reached CHELD’S doors. What many of these cases have in common aside from the abuse is financial considerations. Financial issues have featured prominently in the stories we have heard about abuse ranging from husbands preventing their wives from working or/and […]
Nigeria’s National Policy for Mental Health Delivery 2013
“There are less than 150 psychiatrists in the country (around 1 per 1 million population) and very few neurologists., with many newly trained specialists leaving the country to work abroad. There are around 5 psychiatric nurses per 100,000 population and only very few other mental and neurological health professionals like clinical psychologists, social workers, neurophysiotherapists, […]