1 month ago
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By Henry Obetta
The Lagos State Government on. Friday reaffirmed its committedness to expanding entree to intelligence wellness services and reducing stigma astir intelligence illness, arsenic stakeholders converged connected the Ikeja Lions Club Health Awareness Programme to people the 2025 World Mental Health Day.
Speaking connected behalf of the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, the Coordinator for Mental Health and Development (Lagos MIND), Mr. Joshua Natus, said the authorities has made important advancement successful integrating intelligence wellness attraction into the superior healthcare strategy to guarantee that residents person timely and affordable support.
“Mental wellness is not conscionable astir being mad; it goes beyond that. Depression is present 1 of the starring causes of illness, particularly among our young people. We indispensable alteration the communicative and guarantee that those struggling successful soundlessness person entree to attraction and support.”
He explained that Lagos has implemented the Mental Health Integration into Primary Health Care (METRIC) initiative, which enables residents to beryllium screened for intelligence conditions during regular visits to superior wellness centres (PHCs).
“Many radical sojourn PHCs with symptoms similar headache oregon fatigue, not realizing the underlying contented whitethorn beryllium slump oregon anxiety. By integrating intelligence wellness into PHCs, we marque aboriginal involution imaginable earlier it becomes severe,” helium said.
Natus besides highlighted the Lagos Lifeline, a 24-hour tele-behavioural helpline that provides confidential counselling and therapy done trained professionals.
“The Lagos Lifeline runs circular the timepiece to supply contiguous assistance and affectional enactment to anyone successful distress,” helium noted.
According to him, intelligence wellness units are present operational successful respective wide hospitals crossed the authorities — including Isolo, Mushin, Gbagada, and LASUTH — to marque attraction much accessible and trim stigma.
He added that the LASWELL Centre, located astatine Veronica General Hospital, Alausa, provides intelligence wellness enactment for Lagos State employees.
“Lagos is presently constructing a large intelligence wellness instauration — the largest successful West Africa — which volition service arsenic a centre for treatment, research, and rehabilitation,” Natus disclosed.
“This task volition further assistance destigmatize intelligence unwellness and beforehand knowing that intelligence wellness affects everyone.”
Emphasizing that intelligence wellness exists connected a continuum, helium noted that everyone experiences affectional highs and lows that impact regular functioning.
“There are days you aftermath up and don’t consciousness similar doing anything, oregon days you consciousness restless without knowing wherefore — that’s besides portion of intelligence health. We each beryllium connected a spectrum, either successful a bully oregon atrocious intelligence space,” helium said.
In her remarks, the Medical Officer of Health, Ikeja Local Government, Dr. Folashade Tawa, stressed the request for sustained advocacy to marque intelligence wellness a regular portion of nationalist wellness discourse.
“Mental wellness has gone beyond radical walking bare connected the streets. Many are silently battling slump oregon anxiousness but are acrophobic to talk up for fearfulness of being judged,” she said. “We indispensable intensify advocacy, mobilize communities, and guarantee that everyone has entree to punctual and affordable care.”
Also speaking, the Multiple Council Chairperson of Lions Clubs International, Lion Jide Bello, called for stronger collaboration among government, NGOs, and nonrecreational bodies to code Nigeria’s increasing intelligence wellness burden.
“About 20 percent of Nigerians — astir 40 cardinal radical — are affected by intelligence illness. We indispensable guarantee them that they are not unsocial and signifier a assemblage astir them built connected empathy and hope,” Bello said.
The event, organized by the Ikeja Lions Club, featured escaped intelligence wellness screening and counselling sessions, arsenic portion of efforts to beforehand inclusion and consciousness successful enactment with this year’s World Mental Health Day theme: “Mental Health is simply a Universal Human Right.”
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