Indonesians to get free mental health screening services: minister

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that all Indonesian citizens will get mental health screening services, which are planned to get started in February 2025.

"This is the biggest program of the Health Ministry, and probably one of the biggest for the government because the coverage reaches 280 million (people)," he said in Jakarta on Sunday.

According to him, the government had prepared 10,000 community health centers (puskesmas) and 15,000 clinics across the country to support the program.

The program is expected to become the government's biggest program, surpassing the COVID-19 vaccination program which reached around 200 million people.

The rise of mental health issues, especially among children and adolescents, is a concern for the Indonesian Government.

"Data, issued in 2023, showed that one in 10 Indonesians have mental health issues, and the problem lies in the absence of screening...For that reason, we will carry out the free mental health screening program for all citizens, especially children," he said.

Sadikin affirmed that his ministry is currently discussing the official date for rolling out the program together with the president and regional heads.

The Indonesia-National Adolescent Mental Health Survey (I-NAMHS) survey in 2022 showed that one in three adolescents (34.9 percent) or equal to 15.5 million adolescents in Indonesia had mental health issues in the last 12 months.

Furthermore, one in 20 adolescents (5.5 percent), or equal to 2.45 million Indonesian adolescents had a mental illness in the last 12 months.

Of the total, only 2.6 percent of adolescents with mental health issues accessed support or counseling services for emotional and behavioral issues in the last 12 months.