The Federal Ministry of Health (FMH) has said that it is considering using non-specialists and primary care providers to offer evidence-based treatment to persons suffering from priority mental, neurological and substance use disorders. This was disclosed In Uyo yesterday by Prof. Oye Gureje, Chairman, Mental Health Action Committee, FMH.
According to Gureje, this has become necessary as a result of the shortage of psychiatrists in the country, as one psychiatrist attends to a million people. He said that one of the recommendations of the World Health Organisation was the training of primary care providers, who constitute the end users of the intervention guide.
“Effective and well-conducted training is particularly necessary where the end users of the guide are mostly non-physician community health workers, as is the case in Nigeria,” he said.
