Federal neuropsychiatric hospital, among ICD-11 field study centres in Nigeria
Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, a foremost Psychiatric Hospital in Nigeria has been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the two (2) sites conducting the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11) field studies in Nigeria.
Speaking about the programme, Adebowale Timothy, the Acting Provost and Medical Director said that the research capacity of the hospital has received a boost with her involvement in the WHO International classification of Diseases and Related Health problems (ICD-11) field studies.
Sharing on the development, Lucky Onofa, the WHO Global Mental Health Scholar and the Site Coordinator for Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Arosaid that the ICD-11 Field trial is a revision process of ICD-10, a diagnostic tool used globally by Health professionals to diagnose and classify diseases.
According to him, “The primary principle guiding the revision process for ICD-11 is to provide more effective support to countries in reducing the disease burden associated with mental, and Neurological and substance use disorders; He added. He said further that the ICD-11 will be a framework for health information and reporting with the aims of monitoring epidemics/threats to public health/disease burden, assessing progress towards meeting public health objectives and also to serve as a basis for guidelines for care and standard of practice”
“The Ecological implementation (clinic-based) field studies will help guide the revision of the chapter on Mental and Behavioural Diseases of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10) to be incorporated in the 11th Revision of the classification, ICD-11,” he added.
The Research project, which will be conducted at treatment facilities around the world, will examine the clinical consistency (Inter-rater reliability) and clinical utility (goodness of fit, ease of use, and adequacy of the diagnostic guidelines of selected categories of mental and behavioural disorders chosen due to their high burden in the community.
The project is being supervised by the National Principal Investigator, Oye Gureje, a Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan while Lucky Onofa would be working alongside with Lola Kola, a senior research officer of the Department of Psychiatry, UCH, Ibadan for the overall success of the field trials in Nigeria.
Since the establishment of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro in 1954, the hospital has continued to discharge her tripartite mandate in Clinical Services delivery, Research and Training &Human Capacity Development in mental Health services.
The hospital champions the mental health situation in Nigeria through different initiatives. These initiatives include mental health services at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level across Ogun State in collaboration with Ogun State Local Government Service Commission and mental health training of Primary Health Care workers across the twenty (20) Local Government areas of the state, in and out-patient services, Child and Adolescent mental health services, Addiction psychiatry and other services in the hospital. The innovative Aro Primary Care Mental Health Services, is aimed at reducing treatment gap in the country.
In Nigeria, the mental health situation has remained dismally deplorable with only 1% of the 10-18% of people suffering from mental illness having access to Specialist care.
The Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Nigeria, came into existence in 1954; but its progenitor, then an asylum, now called Lantoro Annex, came into existence on the 13th of April, 1944. This was when 13 health attendants were transferred from the Yaba Asylum, Lagos, to open the Lantoro Institution with five mentally ill patients. These were Niegrian soldiers repatriated from the Burma war front during the Second World War. Lantoro was a former Local Government Prison which was taken over, first by the Military, and later by the then Colonial Medical Department.
In January 1946, the first civilian patients were admitted into Lantoro. Later on in the same year, criminal patients who were adjudged to be mentally ill were also admitted into Lantoro, on the order of the courts in accord with the Lunancy Ordinance. The Lantoro Institution soon became over populated and a decision was taken to establish a well-equipped hospital for mental and nervous diseases.
In 1948, through an arrangement made by the late Samuel Manuwa, Deputy Director of Medical Services, Western Provinces of Nigeria, the present site of Aro Neuropsychiatric Hospital, sitting on an expansive 732 acres of land was acquired with the assistance of the then Alake of Egbaland, Abeokuta, the late Oba (Sir) Oladapo Ademola II.
Though, as far back as the late 1930’s, the present site of Aro Neuropsychiatric Hospital had been labeled “Site for Mental Hospital”, it was not until 1954 that the Aro Complex, the main hospital which is about 18 kilometers from Lantoro Annex, was begun by the doyen of psychiatry in Nigeria and Africa, the late Professor Thomas Adeoye Lambo (OFR), upon his return to Nigeria, having completed his course of study in psychiatry at the University of Birmingham.
The defunct Western Region of Nigeria managed the hospital until 1976, when the region was split into three, namely, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo States. The Federal Government took over the hospital and set up a board to oversee it, along with two other psychiatric hospitals at the time, namely: Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos and Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu, Benin City. Decree 92 of 1979 was promulgated in October 1979 to back the Board. The same decree formally declared Aro Complex as an affiliate of the University College Hospital, the teaching hospital of the University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
This hospital, then known as an asylum, was first administered by the late Cameron, who was designated as the “Hospital Superintendent”
Kemi Ajumobi with wired report