The Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has passed a bill to establish a Mental Health Services Department aimed at improving and regulating mental healthcare delivery across the state.The legislation was approved during plenary in Uyo following the presentation of a report by the House Committee on Health Chairman, Moses Essien. The bill had earlier undergone a second reading and public hearing, where stakeholders in the health sector submitted memoranda.
Presenting the report, Essien said the law provides a coordinated framework for mental health services and seeks to protect the rights of persons with intellectual, psychosocial, and cognitive disabilities.He noted that the bill outlines procedures for obtaining consent for treatment, empowers the Commissioner for Health to issue regulations, and repeals the outdated Lunacy Law of 1916.
Lawmakers subsequently considered the bill clause-by-clause in the Committee of the Whole before adopting the report and passing it through third reading. Speaker Udeme Otong announced the passage and directed the Clerk of the House, NsiakakAbasi Orok, to forward the legislation to the governor for assent. Essien said the law is expected to introduce a more structured and rights-based approach to mental healthcare, including improved access to treatment, rehabilitation, and community-based services.
