By Professor Dr Suhaiza Hanim

Recently, the Dewan Negara gave its approval to the government’s Health White Paper, which outlines long-term changes to be made to the healthcare sector.

One of the issues addressed in the paper tabled by Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa is mental health effects in Malaysia.

As claimed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a person’s mental health is a vital and significant aspect of their overall health. A state of wellbeing known as mental health aids people in seeing their potential, managing life’s stresses, learning how to operate well, and giving back to their communities.

Malaysians were found to be roughly equally worried about both their physical and mental health in Ipsos research conducted in 2022. According to 86 per cent and 84 per cent of participants, respectively, maintaining good physical and mental health was their top goal.

The National Health and Morbidity Survey in Malaysia found that individuals aged 16 to 19 had the highest prevalence of mental health problems, with depression occurring in 10.3 per cent of them and suicidal thoughts in 18.3 per cent.

In an effort to break down barriers and encourage more people to seek mental health care, sponsored sessions with certified psychologists and counsellors are therefore made available to Malaysians through a tele-counselling project.

According to Edward Ling, general manager of Doctor Anywhere Malaysia, the programme offers free mental health counselling services to Malaysians via its smartphone application and aims to provide convenient and affordable therapy to 20,000 Malaysians who are experiencing mental health problems.

In order to lower suicide rates, mental health should be everyone’s first concern.

Critical role of public

The public must play a critical role in identifying the symptoms that could suggest someone is experiencing mental health issues in order to facilitate early medical care.

With this, the Ministry of Health may broaden and enhance its present mental health awareness activities to increase public understanding of mental health concerns, promote early diagnosis of mental health diseases, and enhance their knowledge to handle the issues if they experience them in the future.

The government should also fight abuse more vehemently, as it can result in victims feeling miserable or even considering suicide. This includes bullying, cyberbullying, and all other forms of abuse.

Apart from enhancing well-being, physical health among Malaysians, especially children, is crucial.

After adjusting household size, UNICEF research shows that the relative poverty rate for children in Kuala Lumpur’s affordable flats is about 100 per cent.

The poll also revealed that Kuala Lumpur’s low-income households had children who experienced poverty and malnutrition at higher rates than the country as a whole.

Child poverty is a serious problem in Malaysia that has an adverse effect on kids’ health over the short and long terms. They are more susceptible to contracting infectious diseases, have less access to medical care, and hunger has a gravely detrimental effect on their health.

According to the Health White Paper, socio-economic variables, particularly poverty, might affect up to 80 per cent of all healthcare outcomes.

Diversified approach

To improve immediate health outcomes and address the underlying causes of poverty, combating child poverty requires a diversified approach.

Strengthening and defining social protection with focused income assistance schemes should be a top concern. These can include programmes to improve food security, cash transfers, targeted subsidies, affordable housing, and prompt access to healthcare services.

To ensure that low-income families have access to complete treatments, improving healthcare accessibility necessitates a targeted approach. With vaccination initiatives and early illness identification, preventive and public health measures are especially crucial.

Other than that, reducing poverty would entail improving access to education and the socio-economic prospects of parents through initiatives like tailored reskilling and upskilling initiatives and increased financial literacy.

Significant advancements are necessary to fulfil SDG 3, or Good Health and Well-being, which seeks to guarantee healthy lifestyles and foster wellbeing for all people, regardless of age.

-- BERNAMA

Professor Dr Suhaiza Hanim Mohamad Zailani is the Director of the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, University of Malaya.