KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh has urged non-profit organisations to work with the public to advocate mental health programmes.
She said the move is important because based on the National Health Morbidity Survey (2015), 42.9% of those aged 16 and above in Sabah, followed by 39.8% in Kuala Lumpur have mental health problems.
Yeoh said the survey also indicates that every 3 in 10 adults aged 16 and above have some form of mental illness.
Based on the survey, by 2020, mental illness is expected to be the second biggest health concern in the country.
“The statistics show that it is no longer an isolated case. Whether it is in rural or urban areas, it has become a common issue. The wisest thing to do is to find a partnership with all groups of people and work together.
“We need the cooperation of parents, teachers, the community and NGOs, to come together, as it is a pressing issue. The challenge for us to reach out to the young grows every day,“ she told reporters here today after attending a forum titled ‘The Effects of Social Media on Our Youth’s Mental Wellbeing’ at The Joke Factory in Publika.
