Abstract

Introduction:
The Presidential assent of Nigeria’s first indigenous Mental Health bill midwifed the National Mental Health Act, 2021 (NMHA). This Act aims to align with international best practices, as outlined in international legislative documents such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Checklist on Mental Health Legislation 2005, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), etc. This narrative review aims to compare the NMHA with the WHO checklist, towards identifying possible lacunae.

Methods:
The authors conducted an in-depth examination and analysis, comparing the five parts of the NMHA across the major areas identified by the WHO Checklist, which includes the preamble, definitions, access to services, and rights of service users, among the other 23 criteria in the WHO Checklist 2005.

Results:
Firstly, while the WHO checklist requires that MHAs have a preamble stressing the importance of accessible mental health services, the NMHA lacks one. Additionally, although the NMHA provides definitions for terms like ‘mental health condition’ and ‘mental and psychological disability,’ it does not include a definition of ‘mental illness’ or ‘disorder’ as required in the checklist. Furthermore, the Act does not address access to health insurance, and there is no detailed comprehensive framework for addressing emergencies within the context of mental health care, especially in the community.

Conclusion:
Progress has been made in modernizing mental health legislation in Nigeria through the NMHA. While the Act addresses mental health services and upholds rights, there are areas for improvement identified by this review in line with the WHO checklist. Therefore, this review can be handy in guiding future legislative efforts towards meeting global best practices

Key words: Comparative analysis, Lacunae, National Mental Health Act 2021, World Health Organization, Checklist, Mental Health Legislation.