Consultant psychiatrist Taiwo Obindo has raised concerns over the rising cost of mental healthcare and medications in Nigeria, citing economic pressures and pharmaceutical industry decline. Speaking on Friday in Lagos, Obindo, who is also the immediate past president of the Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), said inflation and economic downturn have severely limited access to treatment. He attributed the surge in drug prices to the departure or downsizing of pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria, noting that medication costs have quadrupled compared to previous levels. Patients with mental health conditions, especially those with substance use disorders, are struggling to afford prescribed treatments, leading to poor adherence and worsening health outcomes.
Obindo explained that many patients either skip buying medications or purchase only partial doses due to financial constraints, increasing the risk of relapse and more severe symptoms. He warned that underdosing affects not only individuals but also families and national productivity. He called for urgent reforms, including expanding the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover at least 80 per cent of the population and updating its formularies to include more mental health drugs. He also urged government subsidies on drug imports and incentives for local pharmaceutical manufacturers. Integrating mental healthcare into primary care, especially in rural areas, was highlighted as critical to reducing treatment costs and improving access.
Taiwo Obindo's warning hits at the heart of a collapsing healthcare support system — one where mental health, already stigmatised, is now being priced out of reach. The fact that drug costs have quadrupled due to pharmaceutical exits and import dependence reveals a sector abandoned by policy and investment. This isn't just a mental health crisis; it's a symptom of broader industrial neglect, where the flight of drug manufacturers has left patients to bear the full brunt of economic mismanagement.
The economic reforms, including fuel subsidy removal, have amplified the strain on households, but the impact is particularly devastating for those managing chronic mental health conditions. When a patient skips medication not by choice but by cost, the outcome is predictable: relapse, family disruption, and lost productivity. Obindo's observation that rural patients must travel to cities for care underscores the urban bias in health infrastructure, making treatment not only expensive but logistically unattainable for millions.
For ordinary Nigerians living with depression, schizophrenia, or substance use disorders, this means managing illness in silence or through unsafe alternatives. The call to expand NHIS coverage and integrate mental health into primary care is not idealism — it's a practical response to a system failing the most vulnerable. Without structural intervention, mental healthcare will remain a luxury, not a right.
This mirrors a long-standing pattern: critical sectors are allowed to deteriorate until crisis becomes常态. Mental health, despite its growing relevance, continues to be treated as peripheral, underfunded, and invisible — until someone can no longer afford to survive it.
