President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the bill establishing an agency that will be called National Commission for Mental and Substance Abuse Services.
The commission, when established, will help to regulate mental health and substance abuse services, protect persons with mental health needs and ensure an effective management of mental health and other related matters in the country.
The bill was sponsored by Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe ,who currently represents Kwara Central in the senate, he is also the Chairman, Senate Committee on Health.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned the senator’s enduring interest in working towards enhancement and regulation of mental health and substance abuse services and addressing the challenges that had made victims of mental illness experience social stigma, motivated him to come up with the bill.
While speaking on the significance of the bill on the floor of the Senate, Senator Oloriegbe explained that the proposal was intended to protect persons with mental health needs, and establish National Agency for Mental and Substance Abuse Services for an effective management of mental health in Nigeria and other related matters, lamenting that the absence of Mental Health Law in Nigeria apart from the Regional Lunacy Law of 1918 which according to him violates fundamental human rights of persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities in content and context.
While canvassing support for the passage of the bill, the lawmaker had listed its objectives to include;
– Provide enhancement of the mental well-being of the citizens through programmes that promote mental health and Prevent mental health and psychosocial disabilities.
– Provide effective, compassionate, humane and universally accessible treatments for mental health and psychosocial disabilities and regulation of mental health substance abuse services.
–Protect persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities (from human rights abuse, stigmatization and discrimination, protect their properties and support their families).
– Ensure that the government and all stakeholders implement the content of the National Policy for Mental Health Care Delivery Services (including integration of mental health and psychosocial services at all levels of health care delivery services.
– To criminalize abuse of persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities in Nigeria, decriminalize substance abuse disorder and increase funding for mental health and psychosocial programmes.
Submitting that the bill will protect the rights of persons with mental health and psychosocial disabilities, Senator Oloriegbe had also expressed concern about the alarming use of illicit and hard drugs by the young people in the country.
The bill was first introduced during plenary session on October 14th, 2019; the second reading was taken on 21st November 2019 all of which were done in the lawmaker’s first year in the National Assembly. The presentation of the committee report, consideration of the report, third reading and passage of the bill were also done on the 3rd of December 2020.
The Mental Health Bill is Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe’s 4th Bill to get presidential assent in 4 years- the Nigerian senate has 109 members- Team@orientactualmags.com
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