At the 9th International Yaba Research Conference 2026, leading psychiatrists in the country have called on the Federal Government to allocate a minimum of 2.5 per cent of the health research budget to mental health research, stressing that the country’s current 0.1 per cent allocation was inadequate.
The experts similarly called on African governments to increase funding for mental health research, develop locally relevant research tools and ensure that research findings inform public policy.
Data
The mental health experts further said that Africa, which accounts for 17 per cent of the world’s population, contributes only 1.8 per cent of global mental health research output and receives 0.3 per cent of global research funding, leaving the continent with limited evidence to address its mental health challenges.
They also called for greater African leadership in research funding and collaboration, warning that foreign-funded studies often focus on the priorities of external funders rather than the needs of African communities.
The experts spoke at the 9th International Yaba Research Conference 2026, themed “Mental Health Research at the Crossroads – Challenges, Policies and Reforms in Africa.”
Guest Speaker
In his address, the Guest Speaker, a professor of Psychiatry at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Taiwo Sheikh, called on the Nigerian government to allocate 2.5 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product to research, with a focus on mental health, to address the country’s research funding gap.
He said, “Nigeria allocates 0.1 per cent of our GDP for research, and that is what is coming for mental health. Not even 1 per cent. In other countries in the West, 2.5 per cent of their GDP goes to research for mental health. So, it’s too low. I mean 0.1 per cent. My recommendation is 2.5 per cent.”
Sheikh further stated that inadequate funding had left Africa underrepresented in global mental health research, despite the continent’s substantial population and growing mental health burden.
He noted that Africa accounts for 17 per cent of the world’s population but contributes only 1.8 per cent of global mental health research output and receives 0.3 per cent of global research funding.
Sheikh, who is the President-Elect of the African Association of Psychiatrists, said the low level of domestic funding had made researchers in Nigeria increasingly dependent on grants from foreign institutions, whose priorities might not align with the country’s needs.
He said about 87 per cent of mental health research in Africa was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the World Bank or the European Union, leaving countries with limited control over research priorities.
“Funding goes to what NIMH, NIMH, DFID. It goes to what they want. Not what Nigeria needs,” he said.
Warning
The professor of psychiatry warned that the dependence on external funding could perpetuate a system in which African researchers collected data for studies whose findings were published in journals that local policymakers could not readily access or use.
“We publish in journals nobody in the ministry ever read. So it cannot be translated. It cannot be useful to our people,” he said.
He argued that mental health research should be designed around local problems and translated into policies and services that respond to the needs of communities.
Sheikh urged the Nigerian government to strengthen domestic research funding and called on African countries to allocate 2.5 per cent of their health research budgets to mental health implementation research.
He also proposed that the African Union establish an Africa Mental Health Research Fund, potentially financed through revenue from vehicle, alcohol and tobacco taxes.
The psychiatrist further called on international funders to ensure that African researchers lead studies conducted on the continent and that a substantial proportion of research funding is spent within Africa.
Sheikh also criticised the failure to implement Nigeria’s Mental Health Act, saying the legislation provided for research funding, data collection and surveillance, as well as the protection of the rights of people living with mental health conditions.
He said the Act, signed by the President on December 28, 2022, and gazetted on December 30, 2022, provided for the establishment of a Department of Mental Health in the Federal Ministry of Health to coordinate mental health activities.
“That act provides for funding, research, and data collection, developing surveillance for mental health in all the health institutions in Nigeria,” he said.
He, however, said the department had not been established and the law remained unimplemented.
“That act is sitting on the shelf. The department is not established. It’s not being implemented. So, there is no action for mental health service delivery in Nigeria today,” he said.
Sheikh, who is also the President of the Biological Psychiatry Society of Nigeria, said implementing the Act would help the government identify the country’s mental health needs, coordinate research and ensure evidence-informed policy decisions.
The AAP president also urged researchers to develop locally appropriate tools for collecting data instead of relying solely on research instruments developed around Western populations.
He said research proposals should align with government policies and address the problems affecting Nigerians.
The professor further advised researchers to ensure that their findings reached the ministries and officials responsible for translating evidence into action.
“If you publish something in Lagos State that is relevant to mental Health care in Lagos State, make sure that you deposit that publication in the Ministry of Health of Lagos State,” he said.
In his remarks, the Medical Director of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Dr Olugbenga Owoeye, also called for greater attention to mental health research, saying inadequate funding and stigma continued to undermine the continent’s response to mental health conditions.
Owoeye said researchers in Nigeria often sought grants from foreign institutions because domestic funding was insufficient.
He noted that many studies published in international journals were not readily available to policymakers, limiting their use in planning mental health services.
“Most of the research that we’ve been doing, people struggle to publish in high-impact journals abroad. Most of these are not available for the policymakers, those in government, to see. And if they cannot see it, how do they use it to plan for us? How do they use it to make decisions for us?” he said.
The FNPHY MD said statistics presented at the conference indicated that more than 150 million Africans were living with mental health conditions, while clinical trials conducted in Africa accounted for about one per cent of global clinical trials.
He added that stigma remained a major obstacle to mental health services and research.
“Statistics have shown that up to about 25 per cent of the population have one mental condition or the other. Only about 25 per cent of those who have it will have access to treatment,” he said.
The Consultant psychiatrist further noted that many people who do not access treatment seek help from traditional and religious homes.
Owoeye also noted that people living with chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes could experience depression because of the burden of taking medication over long periods.
He urged greater attention to mental health research to improve understanding of the burden and help policymakers develop appropriate responses.
Representing the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, the Director-in-Charge of Special Projects and Mental Health at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Tolu Ajomale, said the state had established platforms to support research and translate findings into policies and programmes.
Ajomale said the ministry had created departments and desks to coordinate research and had a Health Research Ethics Committee to provide approvals for studies.
He added that the state had established an intellectual property desk to manage data and knowledge and support their translation into policy.
“We also recently created an intellectual property desk, which again is also very important for us to be able to contain data and knowledge and be able to use that to translate them into policy and programs for the state,” he said.
Ajomale said research and data were important drivers of government programmes in Lagos State.
The Chairperson of the International Yaba Research Conference, Prof Mashudat Bello-Mojeed, said the annual event provided a platform for the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, and researchers from other institutions to present their findings.
She said mental health had been neglected over the years and that the conference was intended to encourage the documentation, publication and use of research findings to improve services.
She also stated that the number of research papers presented at the conference had increased since its inception.
“Over the years, we started with less than 10 published papers annually for the conference, but currently, we are having over 40 research publications in a day being portrayed to the whole world,” she said.
Bello-Mojeed said the conference brought experts together to discuss challenges in mental health research and consider ways of addressing them.
Credit: punchng.com
