Mental Health for All: Between Hope and Reality
Recognizing that the root of psychiatric problems often stems from psychosocial problems, the motto needs to be complemented by "There is no mental health without social health."
Heryunanto
World Mental Health Day (HKJS) which falls on October 10, 2021 takes the theme "Mental Health in an Unequal World," and the Indonesian Ministry of Health added the national sub-theme "Equality in Mental Health for All." That is, equality in mental health for all Indonesians in an unequal world. A noble ideal and worth fighting for, even in reality it is very difficult to achieve, even approaching "mission impossible."
Equality in health in general is still a big homework of the government considering the main indicators of Indonesia\'s health are still of concern compared to ASEAN neighboring countries. Even with Viet Nam that is just recovered from the Viet Nam War of the 1970s, some indicators of Indonesia\'s health are still below Viet Nam\'s. For example, in 2017 Indonesia\'s birth rate was 18.5 per 1000 population, while Viet Nam was able to suppress 14.9 per 1000 population. The infant mortality rate in Indonesia is 25.1 per 1000 live births, and Viet Nam managed to decrease by 14.4 per 1000 live births (ASEAN Statistical Yearbook 2020). Demographic and epidemiological transitions show a shift in the dominance of the burden of diseases, from infectious diseases to non-communicable diseases (Ministry of VAT / Bappenas 2019). Being in transition indicates Indonesia bears a double burden, where the problem of infectious diseases has not been resolved completely, has been followed by the burden of non-communicable diseases. And what about mental health?