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Malaysia
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Malaysia moves to tackle rising mental health crisis among children, teens

  • A ‘huge number’ of children in Malaysia – around 424,000 – are struggling with their mental health, the country’s health minister said
  • ‘We need early intervention’, she said, citing survey results showing one in four teens had experienced depression, and 1 in 10 had attempted suicide

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Children wait with their carers for nasal swab tests in an area of Kuala Lumpur under Covid lockdown in July 2021. The pandemic had exposed constraints on Malaysia’s mental-health professionals, the country’s health minister said. Photo: Xinhua
The Star
Malaysia is working on an action plan to tackle an emerging mental-health crisis among the country’s children and teenagers, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said.
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The National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health has been tasked with drawing up the plan to combat “a rising trend in mental health issues among our younger generation … both children and teenagers,” she said on Sunday in a speech marking National Mental Health Day.

“As per our statistics, there are some 424,000 children who are facing mental health problems. That is a huge number.”

We need early intervention to ensure that our children will not deteriorate to a more serious state
Malaysian Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa

Last year’s National Health and Morbidity Survey showed that one in four Malaysian teenagers had experienced depression, one in eight had suicidal thoughts and one in 10 had attempted suicide, Zaliha said.

“We need early intervention to ensure that our children will not deteriorate to a more serious state when it comes to mental health,” she said.

The health ministry is working with the education ministry and other government agencies to combat the problem through early detection and intervention, Zaliha said, further pointing to her ministry’s Mentari outreach programme that focuses on reintegrating people with mental health issues into society.

At Sunday’s event, the minister also launched a training module aimed at teaching more healthcare personnel how to handle mental health cases. The Mental Health Psychosocial Support during a Crisis or Disaster Module was developed after the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed constraints on mental-health professionals and at least one MHPSS team had now been created for every district clinic and hospital, she said.
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