The commission made the request in response to the high incidence of mental health issues among Indonesians of late.
"We have conveyed this request to the Ministry of Health for immediate follow-up," commission member Edy Wuryanto informed here on Wednesday.
According to him, puskesmas and posyandus have wide coverage and can be accessed easily by the community.
For that reason, they are considered appropriate institutions for providing mental health consultations, he explained.
Specifically, Commission IX has called for training health workers at puskesmas and posyandus so that they can serve as counselors for people showing symptoms of mental disorders.
The health workers will need to focus on strengthening the mental health of high-risk groups, such as older adults, children, and women, he said.
"The goal is to prevent conditions that are worse than now," he added.
Based on a report made by the Ministry of Health to the commission, currently, 1 in 10 Indonesians is experiencing mental health problems.
The figure has been obtained based on the health examinations of 6.8 million people, during which 406,314 people were determined to be experiencing mental disorders.
The ministry has divided the mental health disorders into three types — anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia.
"This figure is quite high and needs to be taken seriously," Wuryanto underlined.
To ensure that mental health services at puskesmas and posyandus run well, the government can utilize the special health fund allocation (DAK) to regions for the 2023–2024 budget year, he suggested.
The health budget for 2024 is pegged at Rp186.4 trillion, or 5.6 percent of the total state budget (APBN), reflecting an increase of 8.1 percent or Rp13.9 trillion compared to the previous year.
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Translator: M Riezko, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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