Abuja - In honor of World Health Day, Civil Society Organizations outline 10-point agenda for effective implementation of the Mental Health Act and launch #SuicideNotCrimeNG, a campaign to decriminalize attempted suicide in Nigeria.

Abuja — Civil society groups called on President Buhari to assent to the National Mental Health Bill 2021 on or before Sunday, February 26, 2023. The demand was informed by Nigeria’s National Assembly passing the National Mental Health Bill 2021 and forwarding it to President Buhari for consideration and assent last week. The transmission occurred on November 28, 2022, according to a memorandum by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Ojo Olatunde Amos.

The President now has 90 days to sign the legislation. Mental health regulatory reforms have languished in Nigeria’s legislative chambers for almost two decades, with failed attempts at overhaul in 2003 and 2013. In 2019, mental health legislation was again advanced, with the Senate passing it for second reading in November of that year and holding public hearings in 2020. Harmonization of the Bill concluded between both legislative branches in June 2021. Since last year, mental health practitioners have been waiting for the Bill to be finalized and transmitted to the President.