Mentally impaired
Patients are locked in a room at a mental hospital in Banda Aceh December 12, 2012. According to the hospital's staff, who take care of more than 700 patients, the number of people suffering from mental illness rose because of the province's long conflict, devastating 2004 tsunami, and also because of the use of narcotics. In deeply traditional society, people suffering from mental illnesses are often kept chained at home and treated with traditional medicines. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, but nowhere is the faith more strictly interpreted than in Aceh, sometimes referred to as the "verandah of Mecca" because it was one of the first parts of the archipelago to turn to Islam. Aceh is Indonesia's only province to have implemented sharia, or Islamic laws. Picture taken December 12, 2012. Reuters

The recent overhaul of the mental health system by the federal government has been successful in impressing experts and groups. The shake-up of the system is expected to improve the access to mental health services over the next few years, with coordinators allowed to tailor the services according to local needs, rather than to follow the one-size-fits-all approach.

The reform package, which the experts believe is the “good first step,” will allow mental health patients to receive treatment and care, according to the severity of the illness. That is, a programme tailored according to personal needs.

Patients with severe or complex illness will be able to get tailor-made packages which will include psychological support through peer support, nursing and vocational assisting. No new funding has been announced for investment in the new reforms phased in between 2016 and 2019.

In addition, the governemnt has decided to shift service delivery away from Canberra. This step will redirect $350 million to 31 Primary Health Networks (PHN). The funding will make PHNs flexible enough to buy services required for the community and put their feet down to resolve local issues.

The reform introduced by the government is a response to a 900-page review led by the National Mental Health Commission. ABC News reports that the review raised a number of issues associated with the mental health status of the country, a majority of which are still unaddressed.

"The commonwealth is doing what it can but over a period of time we have to gradually refocus the spending towards the front of the problem, rather than waiting until people fall over the cliff and become seriously damaged," said National Mental Health Commission Chairman Allan Fels, reports reports news.com.au.

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