On mental health, the Malaysian Health Ministry's Parliamentary
Secretary, Lee Kah Choon, said the level of awareness of the problem
among Malaysians was worrying with statistics showing that on average,
seven people with mental stress committed suicide daily.

Last year alone, over 2,000 people took their own lives and most of
them resorted to that extreme option due to lifestyle changes, he said.

He said studies had also shown that every suicide caused mental
anguish to 20 other family members.

"We want Malaysians to be aware of the importance of taking care of
their mental health because physical health will be meaningless if the
person is mentally unwell," he said. Malaysians, he said, should take
care of their mental health and consult psychiatrists or counsellors
if problems they faced caused pressures to their lives.

Lee said depression should be considered a dangerous illness and
those experiencing it should quickly seek specialist treatment to
prevent them from committing undesirable actions.

He said 27 hospitals with 85 psychiatrists and 56 counsellors
nationwide presently provided psychiatric service to people with such
problems.

"Besides, 754 Health Clinics also render services to safeguard mental
health and until to 2004, 40 family health specialists and 135 medical
assistants have also been trained to help treat people with
depression," he said.