Addressing the House: Dr Zaliha during the question and answer session at Parliament yesterday. — Bernama
MORE than 26,000 people have reached out for emotional support since the National Mental Health Crisis Line, or HEAL Line 15555, was launched in October last year, said Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
“Since its launch, 26,139 calls have been received. Of this number, 16,942 callers were given emotional support, while 9,197 were provided with specific intervention by counselling officers,” the Health Minister said when replying to a question raised by Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Dr Zaliha added that 217 of them involved suicidal behaviour – 99 cases of suicidal ideation and 118 suicide attempts.
“For the suicide attempts, intervention was done, and the people were taken to the hospital for treatment.”
The minister also informed the House that 17,300 mental health screenings were carried out through the MyMinda feature on the MySejahtera application in less than a month after its launch on Oct 22 to commemorate World Mental Health Day.
“As of Nov 15, of the 17,300 screenings conducted, 3,983 or 23% of them were at risk of depression, while 15% or 2,592 were at risk of suffering from anxiety,” she said when replying to a supplementary question from Noraini.
MyMinda, said Dr Zaliha, allows users access to screening to gauge their mental health status.
“Those who are at risk have direct access through MySejahtera to psychoeducational resources.
“If they need further assistance, such as counselling, they can contact the HEAL Line at 15555,” she added.
Noraini wanted to know what was being done to address mental health issues affecting some 424,000 children in the country, based on a recent report.
The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022 has shown that one in four teenagers experienced depression, one in eight had suicidal thoughts, and one in 10 had attempted suicide.
Meanwhile, Dr Zaliha expressed worry over mental health issues affecting children living in people’s housing projects (PPR) in the Klang Valley.
“This is a very worrying phenomenon, and although we have modules and programmes to address it, the issue should be dealt with through inter-agency efforts,” she said when answering a supplementary question from Onn Abu Bakar (PH-Batu Pahat).
She said there should be collaboration between the Local Government Development and the Health Ministries to look at cramped living conditions as a factor.
“Such living conditions may result in mental health issues,” she said, pointing out there are some two-room PPR flats housing three generations of a family.
Onn had cited a Unicef (United Nations Children’s Fund) report as revealing that 12.3% of children aged between 10 and 17 living in PPR in the Klang Valley suffered from mental health issues, and some had suicidal tendencies.
