Fuel Subsidy Removal, Poverty Making Mental Health Treatment Unaffordable in Bauchi -Psychiatrist

From Paul Orude, Bauchi

A psychiatrist, Dr Yakub Fauwaz Farouz, has lamented that financial hardship, especially following the removal of fuel subsidy, is making it extremely difficult for people living with mental health conditions in Bauchi State to access treatment.

Farouz, a Senior Registrar at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, disclosed this on Saturday during an event to commemorate the 2026 World Mental Health Day, with the theme, “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”.

The event was organised by Plan International Nigeria in collaboration with the Bauchi State Government, with support from Global Affairs Canada.

In a lecture titled “Lived Experience to Real Change: Amplifying Voices and Transforming Mental Health Care in Bauchi State”, Farouz warned that many people living with mental health conditions were unable to pay for medication and hospital treatment due to poverty and hardships caused by fuel subsidy removal.

“A lot of patients are poor, and they and their families cannot afford treatment and rehabilitation,” he stated, adding that access to care was also hindered by stigma, with even health workers facing stigmatisation in the course of providing care to patients with mental health conditions.

The psychiatrist noted that many families bore caregiver burdens that were often difficult to manage, saying that some patients relapsed after treatment due to a lack of adequate support, while the high cost of treatment placed additional pressure on families.

“Some patients, after treatment, relapse due to a lack of adequate support, while some treatments are expensive and, after spending large sums of money, patients return to being sick,” he said.

He added that some family members caring for people living with mental health conditions were beaten, abused or insulted by the very people they cared for, while some could not even sleep, leaving caregivers to suffer psychological stress.

He stated that the condition of people living with mental health conditions was further compounded by cultural misconceptions, including beliefs about the causes of mental illness, and stressed that such individuals should not be regarded as bad people.

Farouz warned that labelling people living with mental health conditions was a serious form of stigma and misconception that compounded efforts to ensure they received adequate care.

“We must listen to their experiences with symptoms, treatment and rehabilitation, and these experiences should be included in treatment, while government should also support their families, promote rehabilitation after treatment and protect the human rights of victims,” he suggested.

He called on the government to develop strategies to ensure that people living with mental health conditions received treatment and rehabilitation.

Farouz said collaborative efforts by stakeholders, including health professionals, traditional and religious leaders, and civil society groups, to create awareness through the media would go a long way towards addressing misconceptions, stigma and other challenges facing people living with mental health conditions.

He added that, beyond poverty and stigma, many people living with mental health conditions in the state were often secluded and treated in inhumane ways.

The Plan International Nigeria Country Representative, Dr Charles Usie, said the purpose of organising the event was to highlight the practical investments being made to strengthen mental health services.

Usie, who spoke through Damaris Philemon, Plan International’s Gender and Inclusion Officer at the Bauchi Field Office, disclosed that the organisation had handed over psychotropic health commodities to the state government for integration into the existing government commodity management system.

Receiving the psychotropic health commodities on behalf of the state government, the Permanent Secretary, Bauchi State Ministry for Health and Social Welfare, Dauda Yakubu Mahmud, thanked Plan International for the gesture and called for more such collaborations to address mental healthcare challenges in the state.