KUCHING: The Ministry of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family, and Childhood Development has been given an increased allocation as an aid in creating and raising awareness of suicide.
This was said by Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg when attending the 29th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the 21st Malaysian Conference of Psychological Medicine (MCPM) at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.
“Newspapers in Sarawak often carry reports of suicides and it has become a public health concern, one that calls for concerted action not only by professionals and governing authorities, but all sectors of society.
“We are particularly concerned about the impact of mental disorders like depression, anxiety, and alcohol and drug abuse since these are important contributors to suicide,” he said.
The Chief Minister also applauded the timeliness of the event, saying that it highlighted the importance of identifying cases early and providing appropriate treatment at early stages of illness.
“I hope people affected by illness and their caregivers will respond to this call and seek early treatment and that adequate training is given to those who help in early detection such as teachers and general practitioners.
“Aside from personal distress, mental illness also affects social and occupational functioning and productivity as it not only cause emotional pain to the sufferers and caregivers, but also results in economic loss to the nation.
“Therefore, I would like attention to be given to programmes to improve mental health and to reduce suicidal behavior in the development plans for our state,” he said.
He said that the increase of budget would cover all aspects of mental health promotion, especially among schoolchildren, building resilience among them.
“While there may be many reasons for suicide among young people, bullying has become an important contributory factor and I am personally very concerned about this, as well as the pressure put upon students to achieve academic excellence contributes to increased number of suicides following the announcement of results of major examinations.
“I would like these aspects to be addressed by teachers, parents, and other relevant agencies. For this they must be adequately trained and the state government will give due consideration to requests for assistance in the pursuit of these goals.
“I would also like to urge academicians and professionals to conduct more research on suicidal behaviour in Sarawak to give us a clearer picture of the extent of this problem here, its causes and approaches to managing this distressing problem among our people,” he said.
The five-day event saw more than 500 delegates from all over the world participating in it.
Also present were Malaysian Psychiatric Association (MPA) president Professor Nor Zuraida Zainal, World Health Organisation (WHO) Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse director Dr Sekhar Saxena, IASP president Professor Ella Arensmen, and organising chairperson Professor T Maniam.
