The Health | july, 2019
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HIGHLIGHTS
Dr Sangeeta Kaur speaks during her opening address the effects of stress to the mental health of
employees at the workplace.
The conference was attended by professionals from
all over the country and beyond.
First ever
conference on
mental health
launched
The event aims to squash the stigma plaguing
mental health topics amongst Malaysians
M
alaysia’s 1st Mental Health
Experiential Conference
(#MyMHEC2019), organised by
Emerging Journey Asia Sdn Bhd in
collaboration with Malaysian Inte-
grated Community Health Medical
Association (MICHMA), and with strong support from
the Ministry of Health Malaysia was conducted over a
three-day period from 18 to 20 June 2019.
With a special focus on “Mental Hazard @ WORK!
Are you at RISK?”, #MyMHEC2019 featured three
whole days of comprehensive and in-depth discussions
and advocacy on Mental Health Awareness, aimed at
cultivating Mental Wellness Best Practices that can be
applied in every organisation.
Focus on mental health
Delivering the keynote speech and officially launching
the start of #MyMHEC2019, Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly
Ahmad, the Minister of Health states that “the stigma
associated to mental health challenges has been causing
harm to those suffering from it, often to the extent of
dehumanising the disorder and forcing them to shy
away from admitting their challenges and symptoms to
those who want to help and those that can actually help
in getting the right effective treatment. Such a fallacy
prevails, despite the advancement of our society, simply
because of the ‘it is not my problem’ attitude.”
According to Dr Sangeeta Kaur, Chief Executive
Officer of Emerging Journey Asia, “#MyMHEC2019’s
primary goal was to provide Experiential Exposure and
Learning in Mental Health Wellness and Awareness to
those interested to be activated as ‘key advocates’ within
the ecosystem they are part of, be it public service or
private corporations, so that they can help others.
Noraini Mustafa, Director of My Sihat Malaysia was also present at the
welcoming speech at the start of the conference.
“Each of us might have experienced a mental health
challenge or two throughout our lives. Some may realise
it, some may be able to manage it well, some struggle
with it but bounce back well. However, many face
the opposite. Having a good support network helps
us manage the challenge, especially when we learn
to remove our own embedded biasness, in particular
judging and stereotyping,” she adds.
Experience sharing
The conference was an amalgamation of experts in
healthcare and industry with first-hand experience
in mental health issues among Malaysians. Around
26 speakers have shared their knowledge in preserv-
Things need to change
Authorities urged to amend OSHA 1994 to
include mental health importance.
The Malaysian government is being urged to
reconsider amending the Occupational Safety
and Health Act 1994 to include the importance of
mental health amongst workers.
Chairman, National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH), Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
states that no laws or regulations regarding mental
health were included under the act at the moment.
“I believe it’s time to come together to deal with
the mental health issues faced by Malaysians,” he
said to the media after delivering a speech entitled
‘Addressing Mental Health Issues at the Workplace’
at the Mental Health Experiential Conference 2019.
According to him, accidents that occur at work
are not only due to non-compliance with workplace
standard operating procedure (SOP) but also due to
mental health issues such as stress and depression
which were not dealt properly. Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
also stated that he would bring up the amendment
suggestion to NIOSH Board of Directors before
bringing it forward to the government.
He also explained that he is in the midst of
drafting his latest program ‘Total Wellness and Health
Promotion.’ This program will be one of NIOSH’s
contribution and will be announced later on. — The
Health