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Nigeria: From the Lunacy Act to the First Mental Health Act in Nigeria - Five Takeaways
Nigeria Health Watch, 8 February 2023
In January 2023, a little over six decades after the Lunacy Act of 1958 was established, giving medical practitioners the power to detain people suffering from mental illnesses,… Read more »
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Nigeria: World Mental Health Day - Nigerians Urged to Imbibe Positive Psychology
Leadership, 12 October 2022
As Nigeria joined the global community to mark this year's Mental Health Day, psychiatrists have urged Nigerians on positive mental health. Read more »
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Africa: Time to Make Neglected Area of Mental Health 'A Global Priority', Urges Guterres
UN News, 10 October 2022
Nearly one billion people live with a mental health condition across the globe, but despite that staggering number, Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted on Monday,… Read more »
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Africa: Reversing Suicide, Mental Health Crisis in Africa
WHO-AFRO, 6 October 2022
World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a campaign to raise awareness and spur action for suicide prevention in the African region, which has the world's highest rates of… Read more »
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Nigeria: My Husband Suffered From PTSD for Many Years - Aisha Buhari
This Day, 5 October 2022
The First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, yesterday, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari, unknown to many people, suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for many years,… Read more »
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Africa: Uncovering the Genetic Basis of Mental Illness Requires Tools That Aren't Just Based On White People
The Conversation Africa, 12 September 2022
Mental illness is a growing public health problem. In 2019, an estimated 1 in 8 people around the world were affected by mental disorders like depression, schizophrenia or bipolar… Read more »
How Nigeria's Approach to Mental Health Evolved In 60 Years
After two failed attempts at an overhaul of Nigeria's mental health act - in 2003 and 2013 - President Muhammadu Buhari, in January 2021, signed into law the nation's first mental health bill, the National Mental Health Act.
This came over six decades after the Lunacy Act of 1958 was established, giving medical practitioners the power to detain people with mental illnesses, write Aloysius Ugwu and Beti Baiye for Nigeria Health Watch.
The Lunacy Ordinance enacted in 1916, which preceded the 1958 Lunacy Act, was Nigeria's first mental health legislation.
The new Act is a significant step forward for mental health in Nigeria as it seeks to promote and protect the lives of people with mental illnesses, while also addressing and correcting the flaws in the old Lunacy Act.
InFocus
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Mental health is influenced by a range of factor that include trauma, poverty and even air quality, but despite mental health issues being so pervasive in many Af Read more »
From the Lunacy Act in 1958 to the first mental health legislation to protect the lives of Nigerians living with mental illness.
