 The Lagos State government has come up with an initiative of responding to mental health issues in the state. It's titled Lagos Mental Health Conference at Landmark Event Center, Victoria Island Lagos. The event was organized by the Commissioner for Health, Professor Akinga Bayomi. It had people from different organizations in attendance. The ESCC, non-governmental organizations, civil society groups and others were present. The governor of Lagos State, Baba Jidesong Walu, was represented by the deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat. He talked about partnering private sector to achieve the goal of building a mental health center that is affordable and accessible for legations and people from other states. So, I mean, this is the point. Just because we have COVID, which is a global focus of the world, we have to be very careful that we don't have what we call medical collateral damage. What does that mean? It means we are focusing all our attention on COVID and neglecting other important mental health issues. So, we are very determined not to neglect other important health issues. And mental health for us as a mega city is on the top of our priority list because we recognize that there are so many forces here that can affect the mental stability of our citizens. Now, if you have a mega city where people are always in an anxious mood, they're always stressed, they're always, some of them are suicidal, they have mood fluctuations, psychotic illnesses, that doesn't become a safe place for our citizens. So, while we're addressing COVID, while we're addressing mental maternal health, child health, obstetrics and gynecology, Lagos State is deliberately starting to focus on a variety of medical conditions that are outside of the normal medicine and surgery obstetrics and pediatrics. So, mental health is one of those issues in our society that is still very largely misunderstood, around which conversation still happens in secret. This is despite the fact that we all know someone who is struggling with one form of mental health, challenge or the other, like depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and also, unfortunately, we've lost some people to suicide. There is no doubt that conversations around mental well-being have begun to trend in the last few years, and there is also data to suggest that there is a growing incidence of many of these common mental disorders in our society. The Honorary Commissioner for Health has shown us data that shows clearly that a sensible percentage of negotiations struggle with clinically-diagnosable mood disorders like anxiety or depression. The menace of substance abuse is on the rise and will likely become a national epidemic if we fail to address it thoroughly. We have set the groundwork for the development of sustainable mental health care programs and services that will ensure improved health outcomes in the long term. This will enable the state to become one of the foreigners in the delivery of sustainable, efficient, and effective mental health services to its citizens in Lagos and, of course, in other parts of our country because of the migration input into Lagos. Our commitment to mental health is symbolized by development of the Lagos State Mental Health Policy and Lagos State New Mental Health Law, which was passed in 2019. This law provides for the protection of those suffering from stigmatization because of their illness and sets the framework for developing an effective and robust mental health services for all negotiations. We recognize difficulties in accessing mental health services, not necessarily because of non-availability of this service, even though the existing institutions and resources that provide these services are stretched to the fullest. More importantly, are the lack of courage to come forward and seek help or insufficient awareness of those, insufficient awareness of where these services can be accessed. As a government, we are working to partner and collaborate with all the sectors, private, NGOs, and so on to create a strong network of operations, facilities, and programs that will address some of these challenges. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.