One million Malaysians aged 15 and above suffer from depression - NHMS

PUTRAJAYA - A total of one million individuals in Malaysia aged 15 years and above suffer from depression, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023 report released today.

The NHMS 2023: Non-Communicable Diseases and Healthcare Demand, implemented to gather health information and to determine the prevalence of diseases among Malaysians, was launched by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad at the Health Ministry here.

According to the key findings of the NHMS 2023 report, the number of people suffering from depression doubled from 2019 to 2023.

"Nearly half of them had thoughts of hurting themselves or committing suicide,” it added.

Meanwhile, the report revealed that one in six children aged 5 to 15 suffered mental health problems and the prevalence of mental health issues has reportedly doubled since 2019.

Some of the mental health issues faced by these children were related to problems with their peers, behaviour, emotions and hyperactivity

The report also revealed that over 500,000 adults or 2.5 per cent of the adult population in Malaysia, suffered from four non-communicable diseases, namely diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity.

Dr Dzulkefly later told a media conference that the Health Ministry needs to pay serious and immediate attention to the rising trend of overweight and obesity among adults.

"One factor contributing to the rising trend is the over-consumption of sugar.

"To curb this, the government has implemented a fiscal measure approach, which is the imposition of excise duty on sugar-sweetened beverages and pre-mixed drinks, led by the Finance Ministry and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department,” he said. - BERNAMA