Group Emphasises Importance Of Mental Health

Plan International Nigeria has emphasised that intelligence wellness is not a luxury but a captious constituent of quality resilience and recovery, peculiarly successful times of crisis.

This was stated yesterday by Mr. Noel Gukas, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Officer astatine Plan International Nigeria, during the 2025 World Mental Health Day commemoration organised by Plan International Nigeria successful collaboration with the Bauchi State Ministry of Health and different partners.

The taxable for this twelvemonth is: “Access to Services-Mental Health successful Catastrophes and Emergencies.”

Mr. Gukas explained that the taxable reminds everyone that erstwhile disasters occur, whether caused by conflict, displacement, clime shocks, oregon wellness emergencies, the intelligence and affectional effects are profound and often neglected.

“In Nigeria and crossed the world, galore children, adolescents, and younker acquisition not lone the contiguous disruptions of emergencies but besides semipermanent impacts specified arsenic anxiety, trauma, nonaccomplishment of enactment systems, disrupted education, and uncertain futures,” helium said.

He reaffirmed Plan International Nigeria’s committedness to ensuring that each kid and young person, careless of their circumstances, has punctual entree to safe, inclusive, and youth-friendly intelligence wellness services.

“At Plan International Nigeria with backing from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), we judge each young idiosyncratic indispensable person the accidental to explicit their emotions freely, without fearfulness oregon stigma. We proceed to enactment with communities, governments, and partners to fortify enactment systems during emergencies and beyond,” helium added.

Mr. Gukas further emphasised the value of empowering young radical done beingness skills, adjacent support, and wide referral pathways to assistance them not conscionable past but thrive.

“To our young people, you are seen. Your feelings matter. Your dependable deserves to beryllium heard. If you are struggling, delight scope retired to a trusted adult, peer, assemblage worker, oregon mental-health professional. Seeking assistance is simply a motion of strength,” helium encouraged.

He called for the integration of intelligence wellness into each exigency responses, stressing that intelligence wellness enactment should ne'er beryllium an afterthought. “Let america guarantee that intelligence wellness services are accessible, escaped of judgment, and responsive to the unsocial needs of children and youth,” helium said.

For his part, the Bauchi State commissioner for Health, Dr. Sani Muhammad Dambam, stated that the commemoration aims to rise consciousness connected the value of intelligence wellness and the request for entree to prime attraction for all.

Represented by Abdullahi Dan Asabe, Director of Public Health, the commissioner said “Mental wellness is an indispensable portion of wide well-being. We indispensable proceed to tackle the challenges and misconceptions surrounding it,” helium said.

He reaffirmed the ministry’s committedness to intensifying nationalist consciousness efforts to assistance communities amended recognize intelligence wellness issues. “Through consciousness and education, individuals volition beryllium empowered to instrumentality proactive steps to safeguard their intelligence well-being and question assistance erstwhile necessary,” helium added.

The commissioner urged the nationalist to question aesculapian assistance whenever they acquisition signs of intelligence wellness challenges, “Together, we tin physique a nine wherever intelligence wellness is recognized, supported, and prioritised,” helium said.

In his insubstantial presentation, Dr. Fawaz Babandi from the Department of Psychiatry, ATBUTH Bauchi, said that the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners person recognised a dependable emergence successful planetary emergencies, including conflicts, earthy disasters, and different crises, which person heightened intelligence wellness needs.

“In galore emergencies, intelligence wellness is neglected oregon under-prioritised,” helium noted.

Dr. Babandi emphasised that this year’s planetary absorption is connected integrating intelligence wellness services into exigency and catastrophe absorption systems, ensuring that affected individuals person intelligence enactment alongside carnal care.