Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:05:51.180Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mental health legislation in Nigeria: current leanings and future yearnings

Part of: BJPsych International Mental Health Law Profile Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Adegboyega O. Ogunlesi  and
Adegboyega Ogunwale
Adegboyega O. Ogunlesi
Affiliation:
Forensic Unit, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria, email [email protected]
Adegboyega Ogunwale
Affiliation:
Forensic Unit, Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria, email [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Nigeria's current mental health legislation stems from a lunacy ordinance enacted in 1916 that assumed the status of a law in 1958. The most recent attempt to reform the law was with an unsuccessful Mental Health Bill in 2003. Currently, though, efforts are being made to represent it as an executive Bill sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Health. The present paper reviews this Bill, in particular in light of the World Health Organization's recommendations on mental health legislation.

Type
Mental health law profiles
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , August 2012 , pp. 62 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Gureje, O., Lasebikan, V. O., Kola, L., et al (2006) Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of mental disorders in the Nigerian Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 465–471.Google Scholar
Laws of Nigeria (1948) Lunacy ordinance, Vol. IV, Cap. 121. Government Printer.Google Scholar
Laws of Ogun State of Nigeria (2006) Lunacy law. Ogun State Ministry of Justice, LexisNexis Butterworths (PTY) Ltd.Google Scholar
Morakinyo, V. O. (1977) The law and psychiatry in Africa. African Journal of Psychiatry 3, 91–98.Google Scholar
Ogunlesi, A. O., Ogunwale, A., De Wet, P., et al (2012) Forensic psychiatry in Africa: prospects and challenges. African Journal of Psychiatry, 15, 3–7.Google Scholar
United Nations (1948) Universal Declaration of Human Rights. United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations (1991) Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness and the Improvement of Mental Health Care. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.Google Scholar
WHO (2003) The Mental Health Context. Mental Health Policy and Service Guidance Package. World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/services (accessed 1 March 2012).Google Scholar
WHO (2005) WHO Resource Book on Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation. World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/mental_health/policy (accessed 1 March 2012).Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.