Minister of Health, Family and Welfare Geela Ali has highlighted society's crucial role in promoting mental health, stressing the importance of raising public awareness and cultivating greater understanding and support for people experiencing mental health conditions.
The Minister made the remarks to PSM News during activities held in Kaafu Atoll's Kaashidhoo to commemorate World Mental Health Day.
Minister Geela said mental health conditions affect a significant number of people in the Maldives and can also be associated with other health problems. She stressed that raising public awareness is essential to addressing mental health challenges.
She highlighted the importance of promoting a society that offers care, compassion and understanding to people experiencing mental health conditions. The Minister said increasing public awareness is also a principal objective of mental health awareness programmes.
Alongside efforts to strengthen public awareness, Minister Geela outlined plans to improve access to mental health treatment across the atolls. She said work is under way to establish a system that would allow mental health professionals to provide services while based on individual islands.
The Minister noted that major hospitals in the Greater Malé region already have professionals providing mental health services. However, additional specialists are needed to meet public demand for these services.
To address this need, the Government is exploring arrangements to station more psychiatrists across the atolls. As an initial step, efforts are under way to station senior doctors specialising in mental health at major hospitals in atoll centres, allowing more communities to access treatment locally.
Statistics from relevant authorities indicate that young people account for a large proportion of those seeking mental health services in the Maldives.
A study conducted in the Maldives by the World Health Organization in 2022 found that 20 per cent of the population, equivalent to one in five people, experience symptoms of a mental health condition.
The Government is undertaking efforts to establish a stronger system for providing mental health treatment across different regions of the Maldives. These include prioritising the development of trained professionals in the field and strengthening mental health services nationwide.