Minister Of Health Challenges Health Workers To Explore Hormone Sciences Related To The Nervous System

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (center) and West Manggarai Regent Edistasius Endi (right) at Komodo Labuan Bajo Hospital, NTT, today. (ANTARA-Fransiska M N)

JAKARTA - Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin challenged health workers in the field of mental health services to study endoctrinology or hormone science that affects the nervous system in the human brain.

The statement was made by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin in a speech commemorating World Mental Health Day 2023 as the relatively low ability of medical and health personnel in Indonesia to study hormones.

"How do we think, emotions, there is a hormone system, it's a blood vessel but a hormone. For example, if the serotonin hormone is low, it's depression. Meanwhile, if the dopamine is high, it's skizofremia," said Minister of Health Budi in an event attended from the Indonesian Ministry of Health's Youtube, Friday 27 October.

The Minister of Health said the latest achievement of mental health science today is to use neuroscience to deal with abnormalities in the nervous system related to the human mind.

He said the performance of all human organs is controlled by blood vessels for the function of all organs, while the movement of the organs is controlled by the nervous system.

"I want to challenge doctors, organs that we at least don't know are brains. If our heart can know, because there is already a heart transplant, our hearts already know because there is a liver transplant, but the brain has not had a brain transplant yet. That means we don't understand how the brain works," he said.

According to him, mental disorders are closely related to hormones that affect the nervous system in the sufferer's brain. "Our knowledge (hormon) is still very low in knowledge," he said.

For this reason, he said, the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) is trying to develop mental health services in Indonesia by focusing on increasing the competence of puskesmas officers through the assessment of related specialist doctors.

"First, early detection must be good. We can maintain his mind, we can strengthen it, so that it does not affect his hormones so as not to damage the brain, we must prevent it," he said.

In addition, the Ministry of Health will also provide puskesmas officers with psychiatric science competencies so that they can measure every psychological phase of society that needs assistance.

"How can he detect it early so that he is not depressed, if he reaches skizofremia, he must be supported," said Minister of Health Budi.

The next stage after early detection, he continued, is to find the right therapeutic method.

"Currently there is a massive change in concept that will shift previously the focus of mental health, which is very curative in hospitals, to become a preventive promotive (puskesmas)," said the Minister of Health.

Commemoration of World Mental Health Day is celebrated every October 10. This year the Ministry of Health has the theme "Healthy, Healthy My Indonesia". Commemoration of Mental Health Day in Indonesia is marked by kick-off activities for the Development of Community-Based Mental Health Services Models in Manado, today.