Poor Mental Health A Risk To National Productivity
By Fei Phoon

Bandar Seri Begawan - National productivity will suffer if mental and behavioural disorders are not addressed, dignitaries from the Ministry of Health said.

"(The challenge to support mental illness sufferers) matters because of the shocking waste of human potential which goes with poor mental health," said Deputy Minister of Health Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Hj Hazair Abdullah, who was speaking on behalf of his minister at a medical conference in the capital yesterday.

"It has a knock-on effect on our economy which we can ill afford - whereas 90 per cent of those with long-term mental health problems want to work, less than a quarter of them actually do so."

Health Minister Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Osman also quoted a 2001 World Health Organisation (WHO) report as calling for "a public health approach to mental health".

Mental health problems can rack up a high financial toll for various non-health agencies through sufferers' reduced work productivity and lost employment opportunities and, based on trends in research, a high possibility of resignation to substance abuse or unlawful behaviour, he said. The minister added that the subsequent burden imposed on social budgets is "significant".

Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi suggested that the local prevalence of such problems might be underestimated by society.

"We must do more to do away with prejudice and stigma," he said. He observed that in favour of efforts to assist mentally ill persons, there had been a no table shift away from "large residential mental healthcare institutions towards community-based mental health services".

The Ministry of Health provides a Mental Health Allow ance for those with chronic mental illnesses who find themselves incapacitated by their respective affliction. The closest known service in another country to that provided by the Brunei government is a similar claimable benefit under Disability Living Allowance scheme in the United Kingdom.

The deputy minister was standing in for the Health minister, who was unable to attend as the guest of honour at the 1st Southeast Asian Central Nervous System Conference, themed "Enhancing Patient Outcomes", organised by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.

Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and depression formed the focus of discussion, with emphasis on introducing the Food and Drug Administration -approved antipsychotic medicine Olanzapine, marketed under the name Zyprexa.

Some 50 delegates, most of whom were from Southeast Asia, were invited to the talk, and seek clarification on doubts and queries about the drug.

Also in attendance were the Permanent Secretary of Health Dato Paduka Serbini Ali, his deputy Yusof Amba, and senior medical consultants and psychiatrists.

WHO determined the number of children with mental and behavioural issues worldwide to lie between 10 and 20 per cent six years ago. By 2020, depression - specifically unipopular major depression -is expected to become the second leading cause of disability adjusted life years (Daly), which is a calculation of the number of life years lost to disability or ailments. As a comparison, Daly caused by injuries from road traffic accidents sits at third place. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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