SUNGAI PETANI, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry has set up a psychiatric team to provide counselling for survivors of last Sunday's killer tsunami disaster in the country, the parliamentary secretary to the ministry, Lee Kah Choon, said Friday.
He said priority for the counselling service would be given to survivors who had lost family members to the tidal waves.
"The team will also offer its services to those who need them, particularly people suffering from trauma following the disaster," he told a press conference after visiting tsunami victims warded at the Sungai Petani Hospital, here.
Lee said the ministry did not want survivors to be emotionally disturbed by the disaster because it could develop into a serious problem in the long term.
He also said that the ministry had also set up medical and public health teams in the affected states.
Eight medical teams have been stationed in Kedah, eight in Penang, four in Perak and two in Perlis. Nine public health teams have been set up in Kedah, six in Penang, two in Perak and one in Perlis.
Lee said the ministry was also educating the survivors on cleanliness in terms of nutrition and hygiene to prevent outbreak of diseases such as cholera.
-- BERNAMA
It is certainly great for the MOH to consider setting up a psychiatric team to provide counselling for the tsunami survivors. Children especially those who have lost a parent, both parents or siblings would benefit certainly. But really at the present moment there is a greater need for the MOH to attend to the medical problems of the survivors especially those with physical injuries and other immediate needs. Sanitation, hygiene, proper clean water and food in sufficient amounts are of greater importance presently. The mental injuries and effects may have to take a backseat presently. The question, one would like to pose to the MOH parliamentary secreatry is whether we have sufficient numbers of psychiatric doctors and auxillary staff to have meaningful psychiatric teams.
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