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Public perception of mental health in Nigeria is still very poor. In a survey by the African Polling Institute (API), Nigerians revealed that the major causes of mental illness are drug abuse, sickness of the mind, and possession by evil spirits. This is in sharp contrast to globally accepted causes of mental health illnesses.
Death, which is the permanent cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism, is commonly a result of ageing, predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, homicide, starvation, dehydration and accidents or major trauma resulting in terminal injury. Generally, records of death (including the numbers of persons who died as well as the causes of the deaths) provide insights on the effectiveness of a country’s health system.
About N5 billion will go to service major construction works in the nation’s health sector in the 2020 proposed budget, but development experts, working around accountability process in public budgeting, worry that this may come to waste because the projects that are nominated are not captured in the vision of the Ministry of Health, the regulatory institution for health development in the country.
A report by the Human Rights Watch has said that thousands of Nigerians with mental health conditions across Nigeria are chained and locked up in various facilities where they face terrible abuse.
