"What we are working with the Health Ministry is the fulfillment of at least one primary-level psychiatric hospital in (each of) 34 provinces, and 323 general hospitals under the ‘guardianship’ (pengampuan) network have mental health (or psychiatric) services," he said at a press conference on the 2022 World Mental Health Day.
The uniform distribution of mental health services across Indonesia is being supported through the optimization of the primary-level psychiatric hospital network, he added.
According to him, a person's mental condition is healthy if they develop physically, mentally, spiritually, and socially in an optimal way. Moreover, mentally healthy individuals are aware of their own abilities, can cope with stress, can work productively, and are able to contribute to their community.
To achieve this, it is necessary to accelerate the services of psychiatric hospitals that have the capacity to treat four mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and drug addiction (substance use disorders), Frijanto added.
He said primary-level psychiatric hospitals also need to be supported by uniform distribution of psychiatrists in Indonesia. Based on PDSKJI data, as of May 2022, the number of psychiatrists in Indonesia stood at 1,221, with 68.49 percent of psychiatrists in Java and 31.51 percent outside Java.
"Ideally, the number of psychiatrists in Indonesia (should be) around 1 per 30 thousand population. Currently, the number is still far from the standard," he noted.
Based on Basic Health Research data, the number of Indonesian people with mental disorders who were shackled reached 500 thousand in 2018.
"PDSKJI's efforts (aim to) accelerate the handling of psychiatric disorders in Indonesia by integrating the Ministry of Health's program on the transformation of (mental health) referral services," Frijanto said.
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Translator: Andi F, Kenzu T
Editor: Suharto
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