Ministry Takes on New Approach to Address Mental Health

The Ministry of Health and Medical Services has changed its approach in addressing mental health after the alarming number of suicide and attempted suicide cases last year.

It was recorded that there were 102 suicide cases and 104 attempted suicide cases. Minister for Health and Medical Services Rosy Akbar said she was disturbed at the number of cases in 2016.

She was officiating at the Creating Futures Conference for Mental Health at Novotel Suva Lami Bay yesterday. “Those figures are a wakeup call for us to re-think our approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves,” Ms Akbar said.

“We sought to emphasise the importance of reaching out to those at risk of suicide as well as those affected by suicide,” she said.

“We highlighted the fact that individuals who have lived through a suicide attempt

often say that they wanted someone to ask if they were okay. They wanted someone to intervene, but no one did. We cannot let that continue.

“There are community mental health teams in each of our four divisions and we have also sought to integrate mental health into the broader concept of ‘wellness’ that underpins our work to tackle the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases. “We could not accomplish what we do as a nation without the support of a wide range of NGOs (non-government organisations), faithbased organisations and civil society partners who are engaged across the spectrum of advocacy, prevention and support services.”

Depression cases prevalent in youths

Meanwhile, National Advisor for Non-Communicable Diseases and head of National Wellness centre Isimeli Tukana said depression cases were more prevalent amongst youths due to issues they face internally. “Conditions linked with depression are anorexia and bulimia nervosa because in depression you can either over-eat or under-eat,” Dr Tukana said.

“Most depression cases are youths because often parents do not understand what their children are going through, I find that most parents bring their experiences from their time and try to apply it to their children’s life which is a mismatch,” he said.