An Ibadan-based organisation, Brain Health Initiative Nigeria, yesterday, urged the National Assembly to take urgent legislative action to integrate brain health and brain capital development into the country’s health, education, and economic policies, warning that Africa faces a growing brain health crisis, costing the continent an estimated $54 billion yearly.

This appeal was contained in a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, transmitted through the Clerk of the House by the Executive Director of the Initiative, Dr Temitope Farombi, a neurologist.

Farombi, citing the G20 Brain Policy Paper (2025), disclosed that African nations lose more than $10 billion each year to direct healthcare spending on brain health disorders, with an additional $44 billion lost to productivity decline.

He noted that this reality underscores the need to recognise brain health as a foundational pillar of human capital development, warning that failure to act would deepen national vulnerability at a time when Nigeria is experiencing rapid demographic shifts, with a growing youth population and a rising burden of age-related brain disorders.

According to the letter, the Africa Task Force on Brain Health, coordinated by the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative and supported by global experts, has identified five priority areas to guide national reforms to include combating low birth weight, enhancing education and cognitive development, supporting cardiovascular health, addressing hearing loss, and advancing breakthrough treatments and digital innovations.