Health
Advocacy group urges govt to establish spinal cord injury rehabilitation facility
The Spinal Cord Injuries Association Centre (SCIAN) has appealed to the Nigerian government to establish a dedicated hospital for the rehabilitation of those with spinal cord injuries.
Abdulwahab Matepo, the group’s president, spoke at a press conference on Wednesday in Amuwo-Odofin, Lagos.
Mr Matepo highlighted the neglect and lack of attention to rehabilitation issues in Nigeria despite the high incidence of spinal cord injuries due to road crashes, violence and other causes.
“I did my own (rehabilitation) in Germany. She (secretary) did hers in India. You have people like that. If you ask anybody who has done rehab, it’s either India, Germany, the UK, the US, or South Africa,” the disability rights advocate said.
“ There’s no simple rehab work facility for us in Nigeria.”
He noted that disability is a universal possibility that can impact any individual at any moment, highlighting the critical necessity for accessible rehabilitation services.
Spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord is damaged, disrupting communication between the body and the brain. It damages the nerves in the spinal column, leading to varying degrees of permanent motor, sensory, and functional impairment.
To help survivors of violence, falls, and road traffic accidents in Nigeria regain their quality of life, comprehensive rehabilitation is essential. Such services are urgently needed to foster independence and prevent potentially life-threatening complications.
Government support
Mr Matepo noted that the government allocated some hectares of land to the group for the construction of a rehabilitation centre, but their involvement seems to end there.
He, however, noted that the Lagos State government has contributed by fencing the premises and landscaping, but the purpose of the land has yet to be achieved.
According to Mr Matepo, adjusting to life after a spinal cord injury is difficult.
He noted that the absence of mental health resources and societal barriers to embracing this new reality exacerbate the risks of suicide and depression among survivors.
He explained that at the rehabilitation hospital, the spinal cord injury patients would undergo mental health, physical, occupational and vocational therapy, amongst others.
He said the physical therapy includes training in using wheelchairs and other assistive devices, which is often necessary but not always provided, while occupational therapy helps individuals learn new skills to maintain economic independence and community integration.
Mr Matepo added that mental health therapy is crucial for coping with the psychological impact of the injury, including depression, which is a significant issue amongst spinal cord injury survivors.
He also shared a personal experience of being advised to find ground-floor accommodation after he was discharged from the hospital, six months after the accident that left him wheelchair-bound.
Rehabilitation 20230 initiative, policy gap
The group’s president said that in 2017, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a programme called ‘Rehabilitation 2030,’ and developed a tool to assess how each country is performing.
The initiative aims to recognise rehabilitation as an essential service and integrate it into the healthcare system.
“Recently, they were in Nigeria to deploy the tool, and what they found was far below expectations,” Mr Matepo said.
He noted that Nigeria lacks a rehabilitation policy and that rehabilitation is not mentioned in its health policy.
Rehabilitation centre overview
On his part, David Majekodunmi, an architect and consultant, emphasised the role of a rehabilitation centre in restoring dignity, rebuilding independence and creating hope for individuals with spinal cord injuries.
Mr Majekodunmi noted that the proposed centre would feature a comprehensive range of facilities, including specialised spinal rehabilitation boards, physiotherapy and occupational therapy units, hydrotherapy and mobility training facilities, and vocational and skills-acquisition facilities.
Nigeria has launched its first public-facing Mental Health Policy Commitment Tracker, a digital platform designed to independently monitor implementation of the country’s mental health laws and policies amid concerns over slow progress in carrying out key reforms.
Developed by advocacy organisation Nigerian Mental Health (NMH), the tracker was officially launched virtually on Monday after an initial public unveiling in May.
NMH announced the launch in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES.
According to the organisation, the platform enables policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations and members of the public to monitor progress on commitments under the National Mental Health Act and related policies, including mental health financing, workforce development, treatment access and state-level reforms.
Why the tracker matters
Late President Muhammadu Buhari signed the National Mental Health Bill into law in January 2023 after two failed legislative attempts dating back to 2003.
The legislation replaced the outdated Lunacy Act and marked a major shift in Nigeria’s approach to mental healthcare by strengthening the rights of people living with mental health conditions and providing for institutions such as a Department of Mental Health Services and a Mental Health Fund.
However, more than three years later, implementation of several provisions of the law has remained slow.
According to NMH, key institutional structures required under the Act, including the Department of Mental Health, have yet to be fully established.
The organisation also said the federal government missed its December 2025 target to fully decriminalise attempted suicide, while implementation of the 2023 National Mental Health Policy and the country’s first Suicide Prevention Policy Framework has been limited.
It said these implementation gaps informed the development of the tracker, which is intended to independently verify whether mental health commitments are being translated into concrete action.
Speaking at the launch, NMH founder Chime Asonye said policy commitments should be accompanied by measurable implementation.
“Visibility must be matched by measurable execution,” he said, adding that the platform is designed to ensure commitments lead to tangible legal, institutional and service delivery outcomes.
According to NMH, the tracker serves as a public dashboard that aggregates government data, legislative updates, budget documents, verified stakeholder submissions and community-reported evidence.
Each policy commitment is assigned an implementation status, such as “Not Started, In Progress, Delayed or Completed”, allowing users to monitor progress across the federal and state levels.
The platform tracks regulatory milestones under the National Mental Health Act, as well as governance structures, budget allocations, workforce capacity, access to treatment, affordability and broader rights-based reforms.
Stakeholders back initiative
The launch brought together government officials, policymakers, researchers, civil society organisations, development partners, media practitioners and representatives of the creative industry.
Among the organisations supporting the initiative are Lagos Mind, Mind Over Matters NG, Stilt NG, Our Beta Life, the Mental Health Transformation Organisation (MHT) and Hevolve Foundation.
Mental health advocate and musician Hadiza Blell-Olo, popularly known as Di’ja, urged public figures to move beyond raising awareness by supporting partnerships that strengthen mental health reforms, noting that the tracker provides a framework for improving policy accountability.
Also speaking, the National Mental Health Coordinator at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tunde Ojo, said independent accountability mechanisms can help strengthen implementation and improve service delivery.
NMH said the platform is open to policymakers, practitioners, researchers and members of the public, who can submit verified implementation updates and feedback to improve transparency and support mental health reforms across the country.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) says the worsening Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has reached 1,274 confirmed cases.
The agency also said infections among healthcare workers have risen to 96.
Wazih Cho, Data Analyst and Epidemic Intelligence Officer at Africa CDC, disclosed this on Monday during a webinar on the Ebola outbreak.
“In the past 24 hours, 47 new confirmed Ebola cases and 12 deaths were reported in the DRC, 96 per cent of which originated in Équateur Province,” he said.
“Cumulative figures now stand at 1,274 confirmed cases with 360 deaths, indicating sustained transmission at the provincial level.”
He said Équateur Province accounted for 45 of the 47 new cases reported, making it the leading hotspot of transmission on the continent.
Mr Cho attributed the spread partly to exposure in health facilities, noting that 92 healthcare workers had been infected in the DRC and four in Uganda, bringing the total to 96.
According to him, confirmed cases have now been reported in 35 health zones across the DRC, indicating widespread transmission beyond the initial epicentre.
“For Uganda, cumulatively we have 20 confirmed cases, mostly spillover from DRC. That includes 15 imported cases, four healthcare worker infections, and two fatalities.
“All Uganda cases are classified under Kampala. Contact follow-up in Uganda stands at 100 per cent, with only nine contacts still under active monitoring. Case fatality in Uganda as of day 27 is 10 per cent,” he said.
Mr Cho said Uganda had recorded no new Ebola case since 21 June, although active surveillance remained in place.
More cases
He added that 23 of the 36 health areas in Équateur Province had confirmed cases, confirming sustained community transmission within the province.
According to him, North Kivu, which borders Équateur and Uganda, is also reporting cases, while South Kivu has recorded no new infections for at least 30 days after reporting three cases.
Mr Cho added that Africa CDC also received alerts on 28 June from Tshopo Province, which borders Ituri Province and South Sudan.
He said two confirmed male cases recorded between 9 June and 23 June suggested the outbreak had spread into a previously unaffected province.
According to Cho, the epidemic curve indicates that the first positive case was detected late, after community transmission had already begun.
He said seven-day and three-day moving averages showed the outbreak remained at or near peak transmission, with modelling projecting additional case increases over the next three weeks.
Mr Cho added that a small number of health zones accounted for about 80 per cent of confirmed cases, while several treatment centres were operating above capacity.
He said more than 20,000 community health workers had been mobilised to strengthen case detection, contact tracing and community sensitisation efforts.
In his remark, Oyewale Tomori, former President of the Nigeria Academy of Science, commended Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for working collaboratively in responding to the outbreak.
Mr Tomori described the One Health approach as an integrated strategy recognising the close links between human, animal and environmental health.
He said that about 70 per cent of emerging infectious diseases were zoonotic, spreading from animals to humans.
READ ALSO: Nigeria responds with emergency funds as Ebola death toll rises in DRC
“Ebola, SARS, and other viruses reflect this animal-human interface, with diverse modes of transmission and host species,” he said.
Mr Tomori identified deforestation, urban expansion, mining, conflict-driven migration, bushmeat trade, climate change and weak public health systems as major drivers of emerging infectious diseases.
He emphasised that stronger surveillance, early detection and coordinated response systems were essential to preventing and containing outbreaks before they escalated.
Mr Tomori said One Health required veterinarians, physicians, social scientists, engineers and economists to work together to achieve effective outbreak prevention and response.
(NAN)
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