Past Issues

Malaysia consists of the Peninsular Malaysia at the tip of mainland South East Asia as well as Sabah and Sarawak in the Borneo Island. It has 13 states with 138 districts and 3 federal territories with an estimated total population of 32.4 million. Malaysia, similar to other developing countries, has travelled a signifi cant journey in developing mental health services for its population. Currently, there are 410 registered psychiatrists in Malaysia with the psychiatrist to population ratio of 1.27 per 100,000. Only a half of that number is serving the Ministry of Health while the rest are either in the Ministry of Education or Ministry of Defense, as well as the private universities and clinical practices. Metropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur has the best ratio of 5.24 per 100,000 population, and the states of Sabah and Kedah have the worst ratio of 0.54 and 0.55 per 100,000 population, respectively. But much more needs are to be done to achieve a better state of care. In this paper, we intend to share some information on the population needs for mental health services, the country’s mental health service system, the current status of development in mental health services and suggestions on how to further improve the current mental health services.