1 in 5 Indonesians 'mentally disturbed'

JAKARTA (JP): One in five Indonesians are suffering from psychological or mental disturbances, Minister of Health and Social Welfare Achmad Sujudi said here on Wednesday.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Indonesia is currently home to some six million people with depression problems, 5.5 million of whom are not receiving proper treatment or medication.

"Therefore, the government is providing medicine and consultations at every community health post (Puskesmas)," Sujudi said in a discussion on World Health Day 2001, also attended by WHO representative to Indonesia George Petersen and Psychiatry Medical Association chairman Sasanto Wibisana.

The theme of this year's World Health Day is "Stop the Alienation and Treat the Mentally-Ill Patients".

The scheme for mentally-ill patients in Puskesmas started five years ago and is currently available in 7,000 community health posts, the minister said.

Based on the 1995 survey of household health, the prevalence of mental disturbance in Indonesia is 264 people out of every 1,000, with most patients aged above 14 years old suffering from emotional distress (140 people out of every 1,000).

"The Puskesmas can recommend patients with severe mental illness to any of the 33 mental rehabilitation centers or hospitals nationwide," Sujudi added.

The country now has 8,150 beds available and 430 doctors for psychiatry, mental and nerve illnesses.

Sasanto Wibisana further urged the Ministry of Heath and Social Welfare to provide more experts and human resources in the psychiatry field to cover the country's more than 360 regencies.

"Today, the ratio of psychiatrists within the country is one for every 500,000 people. It's not enough to handle the patients," he said. (edt)