SHAH ALAM, Nov 28 — People seeking mental health treatment through the Selangor Mental Sihat (Sehat) programme would be referred to a psychiatrist in a shorter period of time starting next year, says Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud.
The state executive councillor for public health said the effort is part of the improvements made to the initiative following the approved allocation of RM65 million to the health sector in the 2022 Selangor State Budget (#Selangor2022).
“We have conducted various awareness programmes to the public on how to manage their mental health via the Sehat hotline. We have also received callers who had contacted us to seek treatment or therapy with psychiatrists.
“Therefore, next year, we would include a mechanism that would allow us to connect them directly to the specialists without having to go through a long waiting period for an appointment as we need to support them,” she told SelangorKini.
On Friday, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari had revealed increased funds for the health sector to RM65 million in 2022 compared to the RM56.5 million allocation in the previous year.
He said the extra RM8.5 million in funds aligns with the state government’s focus on its people’s health and wellbeing.
The state administration had on August 30 launched the Sehat initiative with a total allocation of RM500,000 to tackle the worrying mental health issues since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.
The programme allows its users to assess their mental state via stress self-screening.
