"More concerned efforts are needed to prevent and handle it, especially for local governments and service personnel, who are in charge of the substance of protecting and fulfilling children's rights," Deputy Assistant of Children Right's Fulfillment for Care and Environment of KemenPPPA Rohika Kurniadi Sari noted in a statement in Jakarta, Friday.
Those efforts are deemed crucial since mental health issues are currently being experienced by several children, who should be able to grow and develop optimally.
Sari remarked that according to the Indonesia-National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS) 2022, one in three teenagers (34.9 percent), or the equivalent of 15.5 million Indonesian teenagers suffered from one mental health problem, and one in 20 teenagers (5.5 percent), or the equivalent of 2.45 million Indonesian teenagers, ailed from one mental disorder in the last 12 months.
"To protect the mental health of children and adolescents, Puspaga (Family Learning Centers) services, which currently number 257 in Indonesia, are at the forefront in conducting initial counseling services," Sari stated.
Puspaga can then direct whether it is necessary to immediately carry out mental health and psychosocial services, so that the number of children with mental health problems did not increase.
Meanwhile, representative of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Makassar Hengki Wijaya expressed optimism that the number of Puspaga can continue to be increased, as they are the front line to ensure family services can run well.
He believes that to serve 80 million Indonesian children, 257 Puspaga are still insufficient, so the number should continue to be increased.
Related news: Empowerment vital to address mental health problems: Deputy minister
Related news: Need to detect mental health problems early: Jakarta Health Office
Translator: Anita Permata Dewi, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Azis Kurmala
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
