By Mayowa Okekale

As part of the activities to celebrate and draw the attention of the public to child and adolescent mental health challenges, the Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CCAMH), University of Ibadan, has organised a programme for the 2015 Day of the African child.

The programme at the Paul Hendrickse Lecture Theatre, University College Hospital, Ibadan, focusses on ‘25 years after the adoption of the African Children’s Charter: Accelerating our collective efforts to end child marriage in Africa’.

However, three public lectures, which would be handled by different scholars in the field, have been scheduled for the programme.

Dr Olabisi Oshikanlu would speak on ‘Nuts, Bolts & Screws: Approaching child behavioural health in 2015 and beyond’; Dr Cornelius Ani would correspondingly speak on ‘African migrants in the Diaspora: Cultural ssues in child and adolescent mental health’.

Additionaly, Professor Olayinka Omigbodun would speak on ‘Mental health of the girl child: Conflicts in culture & child rights’.

This was, however, contained in a statement released by the Director of Public Communication, University of Ibadan, Mr Olatunji Oladejo. The event is believed to cause an increased awareness about the need and ways to promote emotional and mental health of African children.

The statement added that “there are very few services for child and adolescent mental health care in sub-Saharan Africa and a lack of trained professionals. There is also no regular or coordinated training of health professionals for child and adolescent mental health care. What this means is that the majority of African children with disabling mental health problems go unrecognised and untreated and children within the community do not have access to mental health-promoting services or environments”.

The programme which is, however, supported by The MacArthur Foundation, seeks to provide training and conduct much needed research that will meet the training needs of community professionals who have contact with children and adolescents in schools, institutions, primary care and other community settings.