Kaduna State has integrated mental health services into its primary and secondary healthcare systems, Governor Uba Sani has said, describing the initiative as a model for decentralised and rights-based mental healthcare in Nigeria.
The governor also disclosed that the state had certified its first cohort of 100 doctors, nurses and pharmacists from 10 general hospitals under the World Health Organisation’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP).
Mr Sani, who spoke through the Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma K. Ahmad, made the disclosure on Friday at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital (FNPH), Barnawa, Kaduna, during the 2026 World Mental Health Day celebration.
He claimed that Kaduna was the only subnational government in Nigeria to have integrated mental health services into both primary and secondary healthcare systems.
According to him, mental health screening has also been incorporated into routine maternal and child health services across the state.
“We are extending services to all 30 general hospitals and to primary healthcare facilities in all 23 local government areas, while strengthening and expanding access at the tertiary level,” he said.
The governor said the integration was designed to provide evidence-based, decentralised and human rights-focused care, adding that the model demonstrated the benefits of collaboration between federal and state institutions.
He commended the Medical Director of FNPH, Professor Aishatu Yusha’u Armiya’u, for what he described as her commitment to improving healthcare delivery in Kaduna State.
Mr Sani said the hospital’s dialysis centre had become the only facility in the state providing dialysis services to septic patients, whom he said often had nowhere else to turn for treatment.
He also disclosed that the hospital had recently introduced a telepsychiatry programme to enable patients to access mental healthcare without necessarily travelling to the facility.
“For families in the hard-to-reach rural communities of Kaduna State, that means fewer long journeys, lower costs and care that arrives in time.
“It also lets this hospital’s specialists support health workers in our primary and secondary facilities, strengthening the very system we are building together,” he said.
In her remarks, Professor Armiya’u called for greater public understanding of mental health, noting that although mental health conditions were generally not communicable diseases in the medical sense, some related behaviours, emotions and symptoms could spread through social interactions.
She urged Nigerians to recognise mental healthcare as a shared responsibility and take practical steps to support people experiencing emotional and psychological difficulties.
“Check on families, friends and colleagues. Listen to someone who needs to talk. Take care of yourself. Seek professional help when necessary. And, most importantly, treat others with kindness and understanding,” she said.
The medical director commended the Uba Sani administration for its investment in the health sector, particularly its efforts to strengthen mental healthcare services and protect the rights of people living with mental health conditions.
She said the enactment of the Kaduna State Mental Health Law in September 2025 was an important step towards safeguarding the dignity and rights of affected persons.
“Under your leadership, Kaduna State has taken important steps towards strengthening the mental health system and promoting a more humane and rights-based approach to mental healthcare.
“The enactment of the Kaduna State Mental Health Law in September 2025 represents an important institutional step towards protecting the rights and dignity of persons living with mental health conditions. I salute you for this,” she said.
Professor Armiya’u also disclosed that FNPH had collaborated with the Kaduna State Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency, KADSAMHSA, to train and certify multidisciplinary health workers drawn from primary healthcare centres across the state’s 23 local government areas under the WHO’s mhGAP programme.
She said the initiative was aimed at improving the capacity of frontline health workers to identify and manage mental health conditions at the community level.
The medical director further announced the introduction of a Smart Digital Patient Card to provide patients with easier access to essential information, including personal details, medical histories, treatment records and appointment schedules.
According to her, the digital card also supports electronic payments and forms part of the hospital’s transition towards a more efficient and increasingly paperless healthcare system.
The 2026 World Mental Health Day was marked under the theme, “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change.”