Health Minister urges that child mental health issues be addressed within the family
Jakarta — ANTARA Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin highlighted growing concerns about child mental health, pointing to rising numbers of students who think about and attempt suicide over the past seven years, underscoring the need for action within family and school settings.
Speaking at a meeting on the designation of the Joint Decree (Surat Keputusan Bersama, SKB) on Child Mental Health in Jakarta on Thursday, the minister noted that data from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) for 2015 and 2023 show the proportion of students who think about ending their lives rising 1.6 times, from 5.4% to 8.5%.
‘We are trying to address this as early as possible, upstream. There is data showing that the wish to die, thinking about it and attempting it mainly stems from family problems. The second issue is bullying, which can occur at school or outside school due to social media,’ the Health Minister explained.
Meanwhile, the same survey shows the proportion of students who have attempted to end their lives increasing 2.7 times, from 3.9% in 2016 to 10.7% in 2023. The same data show that female students are more likely to both think about and attempt suicide.
Moreover, the Health Minister also highlighted data from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) for 2023–2025 indicating that ages 11–17 are the group with the highest incidence of suicide.
KPAI data and the Health Ministry’s online mental health report Healing119.id identify main triggers for children’s desire to die as caregiving and family conflict (24–46%), bullying (14–18%), psychological problems (8–26%), and academic pressure (7–16%).
‘The family unit is the primary node because this accounts for the largest share. That is why we have also engaged the Social Affairs Minister, the Religious Affairs Minister to ensure that we improve family life so it can provide a better environment for children,’ the minister said.
On the other hand, education, outreach, prevention and screening efforts are being promoted in schools through the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikdasmen) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Kemenag).
Earlier, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Arifah Fauzi, and Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid, along with Social Minister Saifullah Yusuf, Basic Education and Middle Education Minister Abdul Mu’ti, Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, and Minister for Population and Family Development (Mendukbangga)/Head of the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) Wihaji, signed the Joint Decree on Child Mental Health in Jakarta today.