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Atleast, one out of every four Nigerians suffers one form of mental disorder or the other.
Prof. Bamidele Owoyele, president, the Ilorin Neuroscience Group (ING) said this at the maiden Global Engagement and Advocacy Programme, yesterday.
The event was organised by ING in conjunction with the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO) at the University of Ilorin.
According to the professor of Physiology at the University of Ilorin, , the upsurge in the incidence of mental disorder in the country is being aided by substance abuse and increase in the burden of neurological diseases.
The don appealed to government at all levels to make more budgetary provision for the health sector, saying that the two per cent allocation often set aside for the health sector was too small for the health need of the country.
Owoyele also called on philanthropists in the country to emulate their counterparts in advanced world by assisting in the funding of research, which would generate efficacious solutions to brain-related diseases.
The ING President also implored concerned authorities to engage in more public enlightenment programmes to educate members of the public on research participation.
He said such efforts would help in the early detection of some neurological disorders and discovery of therapeutic interventions.
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, commended the ING for its initiative.
Represented by the Acting Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Prof. Lawrence Olatunji, he urged each Faculty in the institution to come up with Inter-Departmental and Inter-Faculties groups that could stand the test of time.
Prof. Kolawole Wahab, the Director of the Centre for Research Development and In- House Training of the university in his paper presentation entitled: “Burden of Neurological Disease and National Development”, stressed the role of public and private organisations in funding Neuroscience research in Nigeria.
Wahab advised that the long lasting solution to problems faced in the practice of Neuroscience in the country was to continue with advocacy from both government agencies and private organisations.
