Mental health care must be made affordable for young Nigerians — NMA

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has stressed the need to make mental health care affordable and accessible to young Nigerians, warning that the cost of professional support often prevents young people from seeking help when they need it.

The association also called for the integration of mental health services into primary healthcare, adequate funding for mental health policies and stronger support systems to ensure young people can access care without financial constraints.

Professor Olayinka Atilola, Head of the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), made the call while representing the NMA President, Prof. Afekhide Ernest Omoti, at the Vanguard Mental Health Summit 4.0 held in Lagos on Friday.

The summit, themed “Advancing Youth Mental Health in Nigeria,” brought together stakeholders to discuss challenges affecting young people’s mental well-being and ways to improve access to mental health services.

Atilola said the impact of mental health challenges extends beyond the individual, affecting families, society, the economy and national development.

“When a young person struggles, it is not only a health sector problem; it is a family problem, a social problem and economic problem and national development problem. As such, the solution cuts across sectors,” he said.

He explained that although government policies may recognise the importance of mental health, young people are more concerned about whether they can access professional counselling and afford the services available to them.

“A young person does not experience documents or policies; they experience counselling, health care professionals, whether care is affordable. Accessing mental health services could be very demanding because of cost. Sometimes, they don’t want to speak to their parents, but costs of speaking to professionals is constraining,” he said.

The LASUTH professor described youth mental health as a social problem requiring coordinated action from the government, healthcare professionals, families and educational institutions.

“Youth mental health is a social problem,” he said, adding that mental health challenges that are not recognised and treated early can interfere with the personal lives of those affected.

To address the challenge, Atilola called for the integration of mental health services into primary healthcare, noting that this would help bring affordable care closer to young people in their communities.

He also identified schools and universities as critical settings for mental health promotion, urging educational institutions to incorporate mental health education into their curricula and provide counselling services for students.

According to him, the curricula of many secondary schools focus on physical health, making it necessary to give greater attention to mental well-being, early identification and intervention.

Atilola further called for improved identification of people at risk of mental health challenges, stronger action against substance abuse and efforts to eliminate the stigma associated with seeking professional help.

He urged the government to provide adequate funding for existing mental health policies and encouraged healthcare professionals to approach people experiencing mental health challenges with empathy.

“I make a call to government: fund the policy you have developed; to professionals: listen before you label, treat the person not only the diagnosis. To parents: create home where your children can speak without fear,” he said.

He also appealed to the public and the media to handle reports involving mental health tragedies responsibly, warning against turning personal suffering into online content or publishing graphic details of suicide.

“When tragedy happens, don’t turn it to content; putting out a graphic detail to how someone took their own life cannot be a content,” Atilola said.

He stressed that improving youth mental health outcomes would require a collective commitment to affordable care, early intervention and supportive environments where young people can seek help without fear, stigma or financial barriers.