In Pursuant to digital inclusion strategy of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, (NDEPS) driven by the Federal Ministry of Communications, the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric, Hospital, Kaduna has on monday begun the process of training patients with mental health issues in the hospital.
The capacity building partnership will ensure mentally impaired patients undergo specialized Information Technology skills as part of rehabilitation process which would be beneficial to make them relevant and be useful to the society.
Speaking at the event, the Medical Director, Professor Abdulkarim Yusuf who led members of the hospital to NITDA Corporate Headquarter, Abuja revealed that the purpose of the visit was to request for intervention such as internet connectivity, computer facilities and specialized training for
patients of the hospital.
“It has become necessary we come to you because our mandates require provision of education for nursing and postgraduate students”.
” Above all, due to the nature of the illness of our patients, there is need to instill ICT teaching in them.” Yusuf stressed.
According to him, “majority of the patients in the hospital suffered mental issue because of drugs and substance abuse which are now prevalent in the society and training them on digital skill will drastically reduce their frequent consumption of substances.”
“Doing this will have multiplier effects on their well-being and would make them acquire skill and by that we will be achieving our mandates of providing services to them,” he observed.
Earlier, the Director General, NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, while granting the twin requests of the hospital, said the Agency would ensure the capacity of staff and that of patients were enhance in line with digital inclusion strategy of the Agency.
According to him, “NITDA is established to develop the IT sector and in developing IT, we have responsibility to ensure that all Nigerians irrespective of their status benefited from what we are doing.
This is part of our digital inclusion strategy, but we never had the opportunity to train your patients and I think this is an opportunity we should explore because we don’t want anyone to lag behind.”
Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi enjoined the hospital to identify the digital skills of the staff and patients so as the Agency could come up with modalities while the intervention project for the hospital should be left till
next budgetary year.
Suleiman Sani