Senator Dino Melaye To Sponsor A Bill, Mandating All Political Appointees To Undergo Compulsory Mental Test Before Appointment

Senator Dino Melaye To Sponsor A Bill, Mandating All Political Appointees To Undergo Compulsory Mental Test Before Appointment.

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Senator Dino Melaye, has said that he would soon sponsor a bill to compel Nigerian Politicians to start undergoing compulsory mental test before appointment.

He made the call on Monday, at the Third Annual World Mental Health Day Symposium, organised by NOVO Health Africa, in Abuja.

The theme of the Symposium was: “Mental health in the workplace”.

Melaye in his speech, condemned the rate of corruption in the country, asking: “How can someone in his right senses use N2 billion to cut grasses?”

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Melaye said: “Indeed Health Experts need to collaborate with those of us at the National Assembly, so that we can enact a new bill, or work on the existing ones to make it mandatory for political appointees to go through mental health stability before being appointed.”

The Managing Director of Nova Health, Dr. Dorothy Jef-Nnamani, said the projection by the World Health Organisation, WHO, of an increase in mental health, made the symposium a necessity.

She said: “Mental illness is not a death sentence, given the fact that numerous affordable interventions exist just like other forms of disability. We should challenge the low priority given to mental health, and eliminate the stigma against persons suffering mental health issues and their families.”

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