State of the Nigerian child - neglect of child and adolescent mental health: a review

Background: As most child health initiatives in Nigeria lack a child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) strategy, CAMH issues have remained obscure to the country's policy-makers. The lack of current and representative epidemiological data on the mental health of Nigerian children continues to be a barrier to advocacy for CAMH policy initiatives. In view of the importance of CAMH to national development, there must be a continued search for ways of bringing the state of CAMH in Nigeria to the attention of policy-makers. Objectives: To use information from UNICEF's State of the World's Children as proxy data to speculate on the state of child mental health in Nigeria. Methods: With a view to discussing its CAMH implications, social and health indicators in the Nigerian child were extracted from UNICEF's 2012 edition. Results: Most of the social and health indicators assessed reflect significant mental health risks. Up to 65% of households live on less than US$1.25 per day, child malnutrition is evident in up to 40% of children, and the primary and secondary school net enrolment ratios are only 63% and 25%, respectively. In addition, the rate of attendance for antenatal care was 45%, and only 39% of deliveries were supervised by skilled birth attendants. Child labour and under-age marriage is very common. A literature review demonstrates that children living in these circumstances are at significant risk of mental health problems. Conclusion: Current data on the state of Nigerian children contain indices that can serve as proxy information for the state of CAMH in the country. Policy-makers need to invest more in pre-emptive child health initiatives as a way of preserving the physical and mental health of children.