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Sodiq Ojuroungbe
Dr. Paul Agboola, the Medical Director of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro in Abeokuta area of Ogun state has revealed that no fewer than 120 public health workers in the state have benefited from series of trainings organised by the hospital to take mental health campaigns to the people at the grassroots.
Agboola while speaking at the hybrid Press conference held to commemorate the 2021 World Mental Health Day further disclosed that the hospital also engage the the health workers in special courses.
The Medical Director explained that the training will allow the health workers have minimal requirement to identify some mental health conditions and how to manage some of them.
He added that the Neuropsychiatric Hospital also engaged the services of specialists, consultants, psychiatrists to visit communities across the state in tackling mental health challenges.
Agboola who noted that the hospital has been training health workers since 2009 stressed that Neuropsychiatric, Aro is adopting both the physical and technological means of treating people with mental health challenges.
He added, “WHO recommended that we trained other health workers on the minimal requirement to identify some mental health conditions and how to manage some of them.
“We trained specialists, consultants, psychiatrists that go to the community, they work with us and they are being paid by us, but they go to the community everyday. The best thing is to treat people in their community.
“Since 2009, we have trained people in primary health care centres across the state.
“We have trained over 120 health workers in our primary health care centres in the last one year.
“We also do special courses for the health workers and this has really helped us.”
Speaking on the essence of the World Mental Health Day, Dr. Agboola said it is a period to celebrate people with mental issues.
He stressed that the programme is to sensitized the people on how to take care of their mental issue.
According to him, the World Mental Health Day is a day set aside by World Health Organization every year to provide opportunity to raise Mental Health awareness and to help people with mental illness live better lives with dignity.
Dr. Agboola noted that, the theme for this year, “Mental Health In An Unequal World”, is to provide opportunity for Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, the foremost Psychiatric Hospital in Nigeria to raise awareness on mental health issues and how the Hospital had mobilized resources over the years to provide greater access to mental health care delivery in the Hospital, community and on the international scene.
