3rd Vanguard Mental Health Summit to unmask dual crisis of addiction, suicide

By Chioma Obinna

As Nigeria grapples with the increasing nationalist wellness situation of cause maltreatment and rising termination rates, the Vanguard Mental Health Summit is acceptable to radiance a spotlight connected these duplicate challenges with the sub theme: “Substance and Silence: Unmasking the Dual Crisis of Addiction and Suicide.”

The lawsuit is billed to clasp astatine the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos connected October, 17th, 2025.

The taxable volition beryllium delivered by Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), whose enactment has intensified Nigeria’s effect to cause trafficking and substance usage disorders. His presumption is expected to connection heavy insights into the intersection of substance abuse, intelligence health, and termination issues often swept nether the carpet owed to stigma, silence, and systemic neglect.

Why Vanguard is focusing connected cause abuse

According to the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Nigeria has 1 of the highest cause usage prevalence rates successful Africa, with an estimated 14.4 per cent of the colonisation aged 15–64, astir 14.3 cardinal radical reportedly utilizing drugs, much than doubly the planetary mean of 5.5 per cent. Of this number, 1 successful 4 cause users is simply a woman, and astir 3 cardinal radical endure from cause usage disorders, needing nonrecreational help.

Compounding this situation is the alarming emergence successful termination rates, particularly among young people. The World Health Organisation , WHO, estimates that implicit 720,000 radical dice by termination globally each year, with Africa accounting for the highest termination complaint among WHO regions.

In Nigeria, intelligence wellness experts warned that the termination complaint is grossly underreported owed to stigma and inadequate nationalist data.

“Drug maltreatment and termination are profoundly interconnected crises. Substance usage disorders summation the hazard of intelligence illnesses, portion untreated intelligence wellness conditions tin propulsion individuals toward self-harm. We cannot proceed to disregard this dual epidemic,” says Gen. Marwa astatine the past summit.

Mental wellness professionals emphasised that cause addiction not lone destroys individuals and families but besides places an tremendous load connected Nigeria’s already fragile healthcare system.

Also, findings person shown that hospitals crossed the state deficiency capable psychiatric services, rehabilitation centers stay underfunded, and intelligence wellness authorities has lone precocious seen betterment aft decades of inertia.

The Vanguard Mental Health Summit series, organised by Vanguard Newspapers, aims to supply a multi-stakeholder level for dialogue, argumentation engagement, and assemblage education. It volition bring unneurotic authorities officials, intelligence wellness experts, civilian nine organizations, younker advocates, and improvement partners to beforehand sustainable solutions.

Experts argued that beyond enforcement, Nigeria indispensable urgently standard up prevention, aboriginal intervention, and attraction services, particularly successful schools and agrarian communities.

The acme is besides expected to telephone for amended integration of intelligence wellness into superior healthcare, stronger community-based rehabilitation, and wide nationalist consciousness campaigns to dismantle the stigma surrounding some addiction and suicide.

With Gen. Marwa’s keynote expected to acceptable the tone, the Vanguard Mental Health Summit promises to beryllium a wake-up telephone for urgent, unified enactment connected a situation that continues to turn successful silence.

The station 3rd Vanguard Mental Health Summit to unmask dual situation of addiction, suicide appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.