KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Ramkarpal Singh today said that a Bill to amend the Mental Health Act 2001 is expected to be tabled in this Parliament session.
He said at the moment the Act is deterring rescue efforts for suicide attempt victims.
“Problems arise in the Mental Health Act now in terms of the definition of a person who wants to commit suicide and this can create problems with rescue efforts.
“To ease rescue efforts, the Act needs to be amended to carve out the definition of a person who is attempting suicide to enable enforcement officers such as the Fire Department, police and others to continue their rescue efforts with an aim to bring the suicide victims to the hospital for 24-hour evaluation,” Ramkarpal told the Parliament during question time.
He was responding to DAP’s Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii who asked a supplementary question about the time frame on when the Act can be amended.
Ramkarpal said the amendment Bill should be tabled, debated and passed this Parliament session.
Amending the Act is in line with the government’s efforts to decriminalise attempted suicide, he said.
Dr Yii also asked the prime minister to state the progress of the government’s announcement to amend Section 309 of the Penal Code to decriminalise attempted suicide.
Citing the National Health and Morbidity Survey conducted by the Public Health Institute under the Health Ministry in 2019, Ramkarpal said the survey found that the prevalence of depression among Malaysians aged 16 and above was 2.3 per cent, which is close to 500,000 people.
He said based on the survey, it was evident that problems related to mental health are not new, but have existed for a long time in Malaysia, and studies show that individuals with depression are 20 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to die by suicide.
“Therefore, it is clear that the issue of attempted suicide needs to be handled as a public health issue and not as a criminal offence.
“This approach is also in line with the international position where according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), suicide attempt is classified as a disease and coded under ICD-11 as ‘MB23.R Suicide Attempt’ which, according to the description, is an episode of self-injurious behaviour done with the conscious intention of ending the individual’s own life.
“Those who attempt suicide should be taken to hospital for further evaluation and be given appropriate treatment. They should not be convicted of a crime because they are mentally unstable,” he said.
As a response to these findings, Ramkarpal said the government through the Attorney General’s Chambers has conducted an in-depth study related to the offence of attempted suicide under Section 309 of the Penal Code and the proposed repeal of this law.
“This study has examined the approach taken in several countries to evaluate the justification and implications of its implementation in terms of legislation.
“Following the study, the government is finalising the policy and also some related Bills towards this effort,” he said.
Ramkarpal added that since the end of December 2022, he has chaired a total of 10 engagement sessions and meetings with various stakeholders such as government agencies, MPs, members of state legislative assemblies and also the Singapore Home Ministry to examine and resolve all related legal matters.
“As a next step, a Cabinet memorandum will be submitted to the Cabinet in the near future for approval and immediately after that, all the relevant Bills will be presented in Parliament for discussion and approval,” he said.
