President Halimah Yacob welcomed the Government’s move to convene the COVID-19 Mental Wellness Taskforce, calling the national response timely and absolutely necessary.
This comes as the coronavirus outbreak has disrupted people’s lives, with many losing their jobs or having to take pay cuts.
“Those who are not yet affected worry all the time when tragedy will strike them. They may even see little future for themselves and their families,” Madam Halimah said in a Facebook post on 11 October.
Mental health issues go beyond the “terrible pressure and pain inflicted on families” and can carry an economic cost too, in the form of higher medical costs and higher workforce absenteeism rates, she added.
The task force was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 10 Oct, when he spoke at a World Health Organisation virtual event to mark World Mental Health Day.
The task force was convened by the Ministry of Health and the Institute of Mental Health and it will review the psycho-social impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the population.
It will also take stock of the initiatives introduced across the Government to address the impact so far and identify gaps that will need to be addressed to better meet the mental health needs of the population during this time.
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Source: The Straits Times, 12 October 2020