Ratio Of Mental Illness In Malaysia

The ratio of psychiatrists to the malaysian population is 1 200 000 1 10 000 is recommended by who.

Ratio of mental illness in malaysia. Today approximately 30 of people in malaysia aged 16 years or older have mental health problems hassan et al. Needs of the population for mental health services is important so that services would be more needs led and fair. What policymakers fail to understand is that the direct costs of mental illnesses are less than the indirect costs for mental illnesses. By 2020 mental illness is expected to be the second.

Malaysia spends 2 35 of its gdp on health and 0 39 of this is allocated towards mental health with no specific mental health budget for community mental health programmes. According to who malaysia dedicates 1 5 of the health care budget on mental health or approximately rm 375 million. This rm 375 million would be for mental health care in general. The normal psychiatrist to population ratio is one per 10 000 but in malaysia the ratio is 1 to 100 000 and what is more.

Moh s national health and morbidity survey 2019 found that 420 000 children in malaysia suffered from mental health problems dubbing mental health issues among children as a hidden epidemic. The prevalence of mental health issues in malaysia has tripled from 10 7 in 1996 to 29 2 in 2016 2 in 2017 depressive 2 26 of total disability adjusted life years and anxiety disorders 1 71 of total disability adjusted life years were found to be among the top contributors to disability in malaysia. That is far from sufficient. A 2018 study on mental health services recorded 410 registered psychiatrists in malaysia with the psychiatrist to population ratio being 1 27 per 100 000 population.

Mental illness is expected to be the second biggest health problem affecting malaysians after heart diseases by 2020. Retrieved from the national health and morbidity survey 2015 available here or here. In fact the international journal of academic research in business and social sciences reported in an article highlighting the issues and challenges of mental health in malaysia wrote that that more than 50 of malaysians believe that when it comes to mental illness the sufferer is to blame for their condition while about 80 believe that there s no such thing as mental health problems. But mmi found that malaysia only had 20 registered child psychiatrists in 2018 most of whom are based in kuala lumpur and selangor.

This figure is even more jarring in states like sabah and kedah which have the lowest ratios of 0 54 and 0 55 per 100 000 respectively 2.