PETALING JAYA: Efforts will be taken to prevent an outbreak of Covid-19 at psychiatric wards so that those with mental illnesses are not further burdened, says Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba (pic).
The Health Minister said he was concerned about reports of an increase in Covid-19 cases in psychiatric wards nationwide, saying that the government needs to work thoroughly and carefully to deal with the problem.
“I was informed of an increase in Covid-19 outbreaks at psychiatric wards and we have dealt with such an outbreak before at Hospital Sentosa in Kuching and the latest case was detected at the psychiatric ward in Hospital Kuala Lumpur, ” Dr Adham said as he presented the B40 Healthcare Scheme (PeKa B40) 2019-2020 on Tuesday (July 6).
He added that early intervention measures are also being carried out to identify those dealing with mental health issues, including incorporating it as part of the PeKa B40 health screening initiative.
The report detailed that 1.6% of those under the scheme were dealing with depression while another 1.4% were living with anxiety and they were later referred to public psychiatric to get treatment.
Dr Adham said the Ministry has been allocated RM24mil to run programmes to raise mental health awareness this year and the government plans to embark on a “whole of society” approach to help those affected.
Among the measures include placing 200 counsellors at health clinics to help with early detection of mental health issues in patients, placing family health specialists at health clinics and referring those affected to the Mentari community mental health centre to get treatment.
Measures are also being taken to strengthen psychiatric institutions and treatments in the country as efforts are also being carried out in schools through the Let’s Talk programme to help with early detection of mental problems among students.
“We’re taking various intervention steps to help patients, including those in the B40 group, with early detections so they can be given the right treatment, ” he said.
Source: The Star
