Niamey plans care for mentally ill

In Niger, the mayor of the capital, Niamey, has reportedly set up a programme to help get naked, mentally ill outcasts off the city's roads.

Reuters news agency says that under the new scheme, those found wandering the streets will be registered and put in psychiactric care.

The local authorities will also feed and clothe them.

Correspondents say that at present many mentally ill people are rejected by their families and left to wander due to the stigma surrounding mental illness in the country.

They say social and economic upheavals in recent years have contributed to a rise in numbers of outcasts on the streets of the capital.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service