Monday, November 28, 2011
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| Dr Ramli Hassan, Head of Ripas Hospital's Psychiatric Service Department,
delivers his opening remarks during the World Mental Health Day 2011 Forum held
at Centrepoint Hotel, Gadong on November 26. Picture: BT/Yusri Adanan |
"THERE is no health without mental health," Dr Ramli Hassan, psychiatric specialist and head of psychiatric services said during his welcoming speech at the World Mental Health Forum last Saturday.
"To care for mental health is as important as to care for physical health," Dr Ramli said.
"Mental illness constitutes a very big cost," he added, "not only in terms of the suffering endured by the mentally-ill patients, their families and friends, but also in terms of financial costs from lower individual productivity, costs of lifetime support for these patients and the yearly costs of treating and recovering these patients."
"Depression for example, is estimated to become the main of loss of effort and productivity worldwide by 2035," he continued, stating that depression is currently only second to heart diseases.
He said that for more serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, which is defined as the "lunacy" disease, the treatment costs are particularly high.
"One research in Australia in the early 1990s has shown that the cost of treating schizophrenic patients is six times higher than the cost of treating heart attacks," he said.
Not only that, "the life expectancy of schizophrenic patients is also ten years shorter compared to the general public and this is an important factor that causes reduction in their productivity", he emphasised.
"Another research in the United States has also shown that the 'direct costs' of treating schizophrenia is US$17.3 billion and its 'indirect costs' is US$15.2 billion," he continued.
These "direct costs cover costs that are directly borne by the government to prepare staff and facilities required to treat and recover mentally-ill patients," while "the indirect costs cover costs from loss of patients' productivity from being unemployed and from loss of job as well as the costs of lifetime support for these patients by either their families or by the government".
He however, added, that "many governments in developing countries cannot support the living necessities of these mentally-ill patients and so, a large amount of this burden has been taken on by the patients' families alone".
"Among the countries in the Asean region, only Brunei is capable of providing allowances to mentally ill patients who cannot support themselves, similar to developed countries in the West," he said.
At the moment, mental disorders in Brunei is estimated to be at ten per cent and he said that this number has to be lowered "in order to avoid reaching higher numbers like those in developed countries such as the United States and European countries".
Dr Ramli Hassan presented his opening speech at the World Mental Health Forum last Saturday. Four lectures were presented to 400 participants from across government agencies and public sector: Mental Disorders among Children and Teenagers in Brunei; Mental Illness in Brunei: the Causes and Symptoms; Prevention and Treatment of Mental Illness in Brunei and Effects of Mental Illness Locally and Globally.
The forum is one of the activities held in conjunction with the World Mental Health Day 2011 to raise and spread knowledge to the public and relevant stakeholders on the diseases, ways to handle and treat them.
Taken from:
The Brunei Times
http://www.bt.com.bn/news-national/2011/11/28/no-health-without-mental-health
