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Youth role needed to help understand health problems
The youth play a pivotal role in raising awareness about health issues as they experience a range of different health problems, the Health Minister said at the opening of a youth conference recently
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span>The youth play a pivotal role in raising awareness about health issues as they experience a range of different health problems, the Health Minister said at the opening of a youth conference recently.
The conference, called the Southeast Asian Region’s (SEAR) Youth Town Hall is an event held jointly by the Health Ministry, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI).
At the event, which took place in Jakarta from March 20 to 21, over 1,000 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 39 from 10 different countries voiced their concerns regarding health issues they are currently facing and formulated solutions to improve the public health programs in their respective countries.
“Young people around the world experience different health issues, which is why it is important for us to gather them on one platform and listen to the challenges they had to face,” Health Minister Nila Farid Moeloek said.
For example, Nila said that many youngsters in Indonesia suffered from mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.
The Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) revealed that the prevalence of mental health issues among Indonesians aged 15 years and above increased from 6 percent in 2013 to 9.8 percent in 2018.
According to Nila, among the most prone are teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old.
“To overcome this issue, I think it is very important for us to understand what these youth actually need. Parents need to open a dialogue with their children, and the youngsters should also open up to their parents or their friends if they need help,” Nila told The Jakarta Post.
Suicide prevention group Into The Light founder Benny Prawira Siauw, who also attended the event, said that more action was needed to help youngsters who struggle with mental health issues.
“Most of the time we only need to hear their stories and encourage them when they need it most,” Benny said at a press conference on the sidelines of the event.
Aside from mental health disorders, disability rights was also a pressing issue discussed during the two-day conference.
Representative of the Youth Advisory Panel at the United Nations Populations Fund Ilma Rivai highlighted that Indonesia was not yet equipped with proper facilities for the disabled, nor comprehensive and updated information regarding the disabled community in the country.
WHO Southeast Asia regional director Poonam Khetrapal Singh said she expected this meeting could serve as a platform for young people to exchange their opinions and come up with new solutions for their countries.
“We want these youngsters to be the agents of change. We want them to be able to come up with their own ideas to face health challenges in their respective countries, and realize how important their voices are in order to make the changes,” Poonam said.
