… Calls For Speedy Passage Of Mental Health Bill
The Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer MD/CEO of the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Kaduna, Professor Abdulkareem Jika Yusuf has bagged award of excellence following his contributions towards the upliftment of the Psychiatric Hospital.
Speaking shortly after receiving the award from the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) New Nigerian Newspapers (NNN) Chapel, said the rate at which people suffered from mental illness required more measures to address the menace before it got out of hand.
The MD said the passage of the Mental Health Bill before the National Assembly (NASS) was now imperative more than ever before.
He advocated for the passage of the mental health bill before the NASS, which he said would help address some of the challenges associated with the mental health related issues.
Professor Yusuf also identified drug abuse as yet another challenge affecting the society, and therefore called on relevant stakeholders, philanthropists to come to the aid of the hospital to help in meeting with demands from the high number of patients who trooped to the hospital on daily basis.
“At the moment , the hospital has challenges of availability of enough bed spaces for patients, because the hospital takes care of patients from the North West and North Central Regions, so we need more infrastructure to cater for the increasing number of patients.
“The hospital currently has eight consultant psychiatrists and 21 Resident Doctors which is grossly inadequate to meet up with large number of patients with mental challenges, hence we also need more manpower in order to effectively discharge our services”. Prof Jika added.
He commended the leadership of the NUJ, NNN Chapel for finding him and the management of the hospital worthy of the award which he said would further spur them to redouble their efforts for more successes in terms of service delivery.
Earlier, the NUJ, NNN Chapel Chairman, Comrade Nicholas Dekera said, the team of investigators from the chapel carried out an independent investigation on service delivery of the hospital and found the hospital living up to expectation worthy of an award to encourage them.
He said, the hospital had faired well in the area of enhancing quality care for patients, clean environment and availability of drugs for patients at subsidized rates among other indices of outstanding performance.