A TOTAL of 465 cases of attempted suicide were referred to the Health Ministry for treatment between January and July this year, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba.
However, these were just the cases that received treatment at the ministry’s facilities, he said. “They cannot all be attributed to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic alone.”
A total of 9,502 patients with mental disorders, including suicidal behaviour, have been discharged from the ministry’s hospitals from January to July, he added.
Adham was responding to a question from Hannah Yeoh (DAP-Segambut) on the proposal to set up the National Suicide Registry database, the number of suicide cases and the latest trends in mental health in the country since March this year, Bernama reported.
Adham said the ministry had presented a paper on the National Suicide and Fatal Injury Registry on May 21 to the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department.
The project has been listed in the 2021 Rolling Plan 1 of the 12th Malaysia Plan, with an allocation of RM4.2 million.
