Hatty Minas4, Hans Pols1, Agus Sugianto2, Santi Yuliani3
1University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 2Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia, 3Mental Hospital, Magelang, Indonesia, 4University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Chair: Hans Pols
For a population of over 260 million people, Indonesia has a mere 1,000 psychiatrists and an equal number of clinical psychologists. Funding for mental health care is around 1% of the health budget. Under these conditions, providing adequate mental health care constitutes an enormous challenge. In this panel, we discuss the ideas of a number psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses and patient advocates formulated during a workshop on the future of mental health care in Indonesia. Agus Sugianto will highlight the central role of patient advocates and consumer associations in Indonesia, while psychiatrist Santi Yuliani will present new initiatives within mental health care. This panel concludes with a presentation by Professor Harry Minas on an example of the involvement of a district government in institutionalising adequate mental health care.