The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital (FNPH) Kaduna has expressed concern over the rate of substance abuse-related disorders in the country, saying that constitute about half of the cases being treated at the medical facility, just as the hospital launched it’s new medical innovation in addressing the health challenges of patients.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) , Professor Aishatu Yusha’u Arimaya’u, disclosed this on Tuesday during a media parley organised to unveil the hospital’s new patient cards, telepsychiatry services and other digital innovations.

Arimaya’u said the hospital had established a specialised toxicology ward to address the peculiar needs of patients presenting with acute substance-use disorders.

According to her, the decision followed challenges encountered when patients suffering from acute substance abuse were accommodated alongside those with other psychiatric conditions.

She remarked that “patients experiencing acute cravings could become aggressive, with some previously attempting to escape from the hospital and damaging parts of the facilities.”

She said, “the toxicology ward, established from a renovation project initiated in 2022, was specially redesigned to make it difficult for patients to escape.”

The CMD who is also the Managing Director the hospital, said the facility currently had a capacity for 52 patients, who could remain there for up to one month while receiving treatment and undergoing stabilisation.

She explained that patients who subsequently required rehabilitation were encouraged to consent to admission into the Drug Abuse Treatment, Education and Rehabilitation (DATER) ward.

Arimaya’u further stressed,  the DATER programme was structured to run for four months, adding that the ward currently had capacity for about 42 patients.

Besides, she noted that the hospital’s addiction-treatment services involved addiction specialists, doctors, nurses, psychologists and social workers working as a therapeutic community.

The medical director also highlighted the hospital’s collaboration with Kaduna State agencies to extend mental-health services to the grassroots through primary healthcare facilities.

She said “the hospital had trained personnel from 19 general hospitals in Kaduna State under the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, adding, “training was subsequently extended to 23 centres of excellence, which commenced implementation in August.”

She also pointed out that “the centres had attended to 1,075 patients within their first month, with females accounting for about 75 per cent of the cases.”

Arimaya’u identified epilepsy, depression and perinatal psychosis among the conditions predominantly recorded at the centres, while substance-use cases were also being managed.

She said the community-based approach would help promote mental-health awareness, prevention and destigmatisation while reducing the pressure on limited inpatient facilities.

The medical director disclosed that the hospital was also working to rehabilitate additional 54-bed and 44-bed wards to increase its capacity for psychiatric and substance-abuse treatment.

She added that the hospital would continue to strengthen research, training and service delivery as part of efforts to improve access to mental healthcare.

Arimaya’u further explained that substance-use disorder was recognised under both the ICD-11 and DSM-5 diagnostic classifications as a condition requiring appropriate mental-health intervention.

She added, ” the hospital’s initiatives were aimed at ensuring that patients received specialised care while bringing mental-health services closer to communities”.