As Nigeria joined the rest of the global Community to commemorate the 2022 World Health Day, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recalled its numerous interventions on the rising cases of mental health challenges occasioned by Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) and inherent biological disorders and other social factors.
The Commission recently made a disclosure of over 900,000 petitions on alleged violations of the rights of women and children in the year 2021.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (SAN) who stated this in Abuja while marking the 2022 World Heath Day observed that despite all odds, the various efforts by the Commission to stem the tide of SGBV was yielding result, particularly because “there have been far-reaching collaborations with other stakeholders towards addressing social and economic factors that are at the foundation of the said violations”.
The Chief Human Rights Officer in Nigeria reiterated the need to
to pay more attention to mental health challenge which he noted could be exacerbated by several factors including stress, anxiety, poverty and drug consumption and abuse, saying that such conditions should not in any way deny the citizens their inalienable rights to health.
The Commission, the Executive Secretary noted, was considering measures aimed at curbing the challenges arising from the exposure of staff to traumatising experience in the course of their work, which will include the establishment of a trauma centre in the Commission to handle related issues as they arise.
Owing to growing concerns of global warming and environmental pollution in some regions of the world, this year’s theme, “Our planet, our health” is apt as it seeks to emphasize the reality that the state of the planet at every point is pivotal to the quality of health of its inhabitants.
The World Health Day which is marked annually every April 7th seeks not only to promote the significance of the event but also the wellbeing of every individual irrespective of Nationality, gender, tribe or creed.
