Mental health experts have called for increased investment in drug rehabilitation centres, affordable treatment and improved professional services to address substance abuse in Nigeria.

They made the call in separate interviews with journalists, citing inadequate facilities, high treatment costs and poor regulation of rehabilitation services.

Veronica Ezeh, a psychiatric nurse at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, said existing rehabilitation centres were grossly inadequate.

Ms Ezeh said the number of people abusing drugs was growing faster than available treatment spaces.

She listed government hospitals, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) facilities, private homes, faith-based organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and traditional practitioners among providers of rehabilitation services.

However, she expressed concern over varying treatment standards, inadequate personnel, limited resources and the high cost of care.

She said some private facilities were operated by people without adequate knowledge of addiction treatment, resulting in inappropriate patient management.

“Some rehabilitation homes do not understand psychological treatment, medical treatment or proper patient assessment,” she said.

Ms Ezeh added that poor referral systems and inadequate management of medical and psychiatric conditions undermined treatment outcomes.

She urged the federal government, particularly the Ministry of Health, to establish more properly equipped centres staffed by qualified professionals.

“Patients should receive professional care rather than being chained, locked up or deprived of their basic human needs,” she said.

Supporting the call for more facilities, Olugbenga Owoeye, Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, said the hospital currently had 90 beds dedicated to drug rehabilitation.

Mr Owoeye explained that the facility had 60 beds for male patients and 30 for female patients, adding that the male unit had recently been renovated through an ECOWAS grant.

He said three consultant psychiatrists and about eight resident doctors provided daily care, while occupational therapy facilities also supported patients’ rehabilitation.

According to him, the facilities include computers, musical instruments, a barber’s salon, fashion-design equipment and a gymnasium to help patients acquire vocational skills.

Mr Owoeye, however, said the available beds were insufficient to meet the needs of Lagos, which has an estimated population of 22 million.

“Government alone cannot do it,” he said, urging NGOs, corporate organisations and other institutions to support rehabilitation services.

Taiwo Obindo, a consultant psychiatrist, said existing facilities could not meet the needs of the growing number of people with substance use disorders, particularly young Nigerians.

He said treatment could cost between N300,000 and N400,000 monthly, with many patients requiring at least three months of care, while some needed up to a year.

Mr Obindo, the immediate past president of the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), identified inadequate personnel, rising medication costs and limited facilities as major challenges.

He urged the government to prioritise rehabilitation services and improve remuneration and incentives for professionals working in rural areas, integrate mental healthcare into primary healthcare, and implement the National Mental Health Act and Policy.

Olumide Adams, a relative of a patient at the Drug Rehabilitation Unit of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, recounted how his brother’s condition had improved since admission.

Mr Adams said his brother had spent three months receiving treatment and was gradually regaining his mental stability, describing the experience as difficult but encouraging.

He, however, appealed to the government to subsidise rehabilitation costs, noting that medication and other required services were expensive.

Similarly, a relative of another patient at a rehabilitation home, who pleaded anonymity, expressed concern over the high cost of treatment, attributing it partly to the facility’s private ownership.

The relative urged the government to make private rehabilitation services more affordable for families.

(NAN)