In October 2021, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that the Cabinet had agreed to the decriminalisation of suicide. No timeline was provided. As early as August 2020, I had proposed a moratorium on prosecution of attempted suicides so that survivors get help instead of being charged in court. Following Khairy’s announcement, the call for a moratorium was echoed by mental health advocates, including an email campaign petitioning elected representatives by youth activist collective MISI: Solidariti.
9 months later, we are told that the Minister had asked for the moratorium in the Cabinet, but it was rejected. Instead, they will wait for the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to finalise their opinion. Only then would the Cabinet decide whether to decriminalise suicide. This seems to run contrary to Khairy’s earlier announcement. There has also been no indication of the AGC’s concerns that warrant a delay to amending/repealing Section 309 of the Penal Code.
The next Parliament sitting is 2 weeks away. How many sittings will it take to table amendments to Section 309?
Coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a society
Even as things reopen in the endemic phase, we are not out of the woods. Many still face unemployment, financial stress, and emotional pressures. My office made wellness calls in February 2021, June 2021, and February 2022 to our food and aid recipients. During these calls, we hear their struggles and fears about uncertainties caused by Covid-19 and political instability. Some have lost loved ones and could not say proper goodbyes due to the SOPs. We also hear of children, having missed school for almost 2 years, regress socially and become afraid of interactions.
In this sense, Malaysians are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from Covid-19. How do we address this meaningfully?
The lowest hanging fruit really, is passing the moratorium and halt prosecution of attempted suicides. With no timeline in sight, the absence of a moratorium risks more survivors not getting the help they need.
The second would be addressing the AGC’s concerns. Perhaps the Minister could hold a stakeholders’ meeting between the AGC, mental health professionals, NGOs and advocates, so that things can move forward.
Outside the topic of decriminalisation is tackling socioeconomic inequalities. The recent rise in the living costs and subsidy removals for necessities such as cooking oil is another addition to post-pandemic fatigue, especially for the B40 and M40. In this climate, how can we make mental health help more accessible?
One of the Selangor State Government’s initiatives was to launch Selangor Mental Sihat (SEHAT) in August 2021. SEHAT is an addition within the Selangkah app specifically for mental health. Users can take a mental health screening test, which is based on the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS). A risk screening test checks whether a user has self-harm thoughts or is a suicide risk.
30 videos cover psychoeducation, coping tips, and MCO-specific topics. All videos have a sign language interpreter. Other features include helplines and a mental health literacy scale.
Mid-2021, my colleague Michelle Ng (ADN Subang Jaya) and I submitted a proposal to the State on subsidising mental health services. This would tentatively cover households with incomes below RM7,000. The proposed model is a funnelled system, in which an individual receives a set number of subsidised sessions, starting with a counsellor and either remains with the counsellor or, if needed, is channelled to a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist.
Happily, the Selangor Budget 2022 included an allocation of RM1 million to expand SEHAT and subsidise mental health services. Currently, things are being finetuned so that the interface between all parties is easy to use.
If we dare imagine further, the next step would be subsidising the cost of psychiatric medicines. Government hospitals are overloaded; a private consultation plus medicines would cost around RM600 – RM800. For many, this is unaffordable.
Covid-19 exposed the urgency of tackling mental health. I call on the Health Minister again: please help us pass the moratorium in Cabinet and give us a timeline towards the decriminalisation of suicide.