Dear Miracle,
Thank you for your recent message highlighting the current situation in Nigeria, quoting from a recent paper in The Lancet Global Health
https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/braveheart-access-mental-health-interve...
'With fewer than 300 psychiatrists for a population of more than 200 million, most of whom are based in urban areas, and in view of poor knowledge of mental disorders at the primary health-care level, caring for people with mental illness is typically left to family members. A paucity of community-based and primary health-care services means that access to care is restricted to the most severe cases, usually in the form of psychiatric inpatient care or makeshift institutions.'
Would you - and others - like to say something about the mental healthcare inforamtion needs of family members and primary health workers? How might these needs be more effectively met, so that the majority who have mild to moderate mental health issues are better supported and protected from escalation to severe mental illness.
Best wishes, Neil
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
