Some medical experts have called for locally generated data, increased funding and implementation of Nigeria’s Mental Health Act to strengthen mental health research.
They made the call at the ninth International Yaba Research Conference, organised by the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, on Wednesday in Lagos.
The theme of the conference was “Mental Health Research at the Crossroads: Challenges, Policies and Reforms in Africa”.
It examined research challenges, policy gaps and reforms needed to improve mental healthcare across the continent.
A Professor of Psychiatry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Taiwo Sheikh said that Nigeria must prioritise research that addresses its specific mental health challenges rather than relying on ones shaped by Western countries and their funding agencies.
“First, we must domesticate research. We must develop our own tools for collecting data,” he said.
He stressed that research findings should address local needs and guide government policies, adding that reliable data was essential for identifying mental health challenges and evaluating interventions.
Sheikh said the Mental Health Act, signed by the President in December 2022, provided for a Department of Mental Health in the Federal Ministry of Health to coordinate research and data collection.
“The Act is sitting on the shelf. The department is not established. It is not being implemented,” he said.
He said that the department’s establishment would help identify research priorities, coordinate mental health activities and provide evidence to guide national policy decisions.
According to him, effective research development requires government commitment, strategic plans, adequate resources, clearly defined responsibilities and monitoring mechanisms to ensure accountability.
Sheikh explained that the Act was made for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, covering the healthcare professionals, teachers, religious leaders, employers, communities and all stakeholders of the economy, rather than the psychiatrists alone.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, said the conference provided a platform to showcase research findings and encourage their use in policymaking and healthcare planning.
He said many African researchers struggled to publish in high-impact international journals, while research findings often failed to reach policymakers who could use them to improve mental health services.
Owoeye identified stigma, inadequate funding and limited research capacity as major challenges, noting that insufficient domestic investment forced many Nigerian researchers to depend on foreign grants.
“The burden is huge,” he said, citing estimates that more than 150 million people in Africa lived with mental health conditions.
He urged governments and stakeholders to invest more in research, noting that evidence-based interventions were essential to improving access to treatment and addressing the continent’s mental health burden.
A Consultant Psychiatrist and Chairperson of the conference, Prof. Mashudat Bello-Mojeed, said the annual gathering promoted research reflecting African realities and encouraged the translation of findings into improved policies and clinical practice.
“The conference has grown from receiving fewer than 10 research papers annually to showcasing more than 40 research publications,” Bello-Mojeed said.
Dr Tolu Ajomale, Director, Special Projects and Mental Health, Lagos State Ministry of Health, said the state had established research coordination structures, Health Research Ethics Committee and an intellectual property desk to strengthen research.
Ajomale said data remained essential to government planning, adding that research findings could be translated into effective policies and programmes.
The conference featured mental health research presentations by various departments, researchers and organisations, with discussions focusing on policy reforms, research collaboration and practical solutions to mental healthcare challenges in Africa.(NAN)
