A total of 80 suicide cases were recorded from March 2020 until last July in Perak due to— among others—stress, financial difficulty, illness, drug abuse problems and mental illness.
Executive Councillor for Women and Family Development, Social Welfare and NGO, Datuk Dr. Wan Norashikin Wan Noordin said the number of mental health patients registered until June this year was 4,559 people.
“Breaking down into ethnicity and gender, the cases involved 32 Chinese, 29 Indian, 11 (others) and eight Malay people. Cases involving males are higher at 66 while females are at 14 people,” he said.
Following that, the state government took preventive measures involving cooperation with the Social Welfare Department (JKM), Women’s Development Department (JPW), State Health Department (JKN), Perak Islamic Religious Department (JAIPK) and the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (SKMM).
She highlighted this at the Perak State Legislative Assembly today (August 27).
To address mental health issues in the COVID-19 pandemic situation, JKN implements mental health services and social support in hospitals and health clinics to help ease the emotions of affected individuals.
In the meantime, said Wan Norshikin, through Talian Kasih (15999) JKM, issues of mental disorders, domestic violence, abuse of women and children, abandonment of babies, social problems of adolescents, issues of the differently abled (OKU), assistance for the elderly, human trafficking issues and others can be handled.
She explained that this online service is a bridge between the target group and agencies such as JKM for inquiries, complaints, counseling, referrals and further actions.
“The Waja Perak (Women Anti-Crime) Squad, for instance, is a group of volunteers who aim to empower the community through psychosocial guidance and activities in the community.
“This is to increase awareness for a caring attitude towards our surrounding community, especially our neighbours, so that we can aid victims who are going through mental health struggles and others,” she said.
Rosli Mansor
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