Sabah government to work with UMS in dealing with mental health issues

Datuk Frankie Poon Ming Fung

KOTA KINABALU, Aug 30 -- The state government is prepared to work closely with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) in efforts to reduce the incidence and prevalence of mental disorders among people in the state, said Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon Ming Fung.

According to Poon, 29.2 per cent of Malaysians were identified to have mental health issues and of the number 42.9 per cent were Sabahans.

"The state government will assist UMS in identifying the root causes of mental illness as well as find the most effective solution in reducing the incidence of mental disorders among the population," he told a press conference at the closing the 'Borneo Quality of Life' conference at UMS, here today.

Poon said poverty was also identified to be one of the causes of mental health issues and deterioration in the quality of life among Sabahans.

“If this situation continues it will have a detrimental effect on the development of the state,” he said.

Meanwhile, conference chairman, Prof. Dr. Helen Benedict Lasimbang said the three-day conference which ended today brought together academicians, non-governmental organisation members, health service staff and the local community to discuss ways to improve quality of life in Sabah.

She said among topics discussed were issues of poverty, health, education, employment, income, pollution, and infrastructure development which were factors linked to the deteriorating quality of life.

She said efforts to build a sustainable and prosperous society with high quality of life should not be fully entrusted to the government as everyone should help to build prosperous communities and economies.

-- BERNAMA