Rotary Club Donates N1m to Support Mental Health Intervention

As part of measures to support mental health intervention programme in Nigeria, Rotary Club,  Iponri, has donated the sum of one million naira to the federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos State.

Speaking at the donation ceremony in Lagos recently, the President of the Club, Rotarian, Kenneth Uwaje, said in recent times the mainstream and social media spaces have been dominated with suicide incidents and attempted suicides in parts of the country, noting that these incidents were occasioned by mental illness, which is a growing area of medical attention and concern across communities.

He also stated that the plague of mental illness across communities in Nigeria have reached pandemic levels as exemplified by the growing records of clinical depression, which he noted was one of the several mental and behaviour disorders projected to be second leading cause of disability worldwide.

Uwaje explained that they have decided to partner key stakeholders in the nation’s healthcare sector especially the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, adding that their approach was through provision of medication and prevention through early diagnosis and management of cases.

He added that the club would promote mental health enlightenment programmes focused on coping strategies and resilience trainings, both of which fall under the purview of community psychiatry.

He said: “It is no secret that awareness is enshrined in the media, hence they are valuable vehicle towards extermination of this plague. It is in this respect that we are calling on stakeholders in the media to partner with the Rotary towards the eradication of mental illness in Nigeria.

“On our part, we have decided to match words with actions by planting a seed towards reducing the growing tide of mental illness in Nigeria by donating the sum of one million naira only to our partner hospital, the federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba. This donation is the first series mental health intervention projects to curb the menace of mental illness across Nigeria.

“This donation is the first in the series of mental health interventions projects to curb the menace of mental illness across Nigeria. We call on government at all tiers and agencies to promote favourable mental health policies and programme because the mental health of our nation is the mental wealth of Nigeria,” he added.