Debate on President’s speech: Hamid Razak on doing more for mental health

Addressing mental health must be brought upstream, just like for chronic diseases. This is because unlike hypertension or diabetes, where objective markers drive treatment, mental health conditions lack such clear triggers for action; yet if left unaddressed, they harm not only the individual but also families, neighbours, responders and even entire communities. MP Hamid Razak made this point and offered four proposals - integrate mental health screening into Healthier SG or a similar framework; create a coordinated community platform to ensure there is "no wrong door" for anyone seeking help; nurture safe community spaces where residents and neighbours can share concerns for those showing signs of distress; and test all these efforts in a phased, sandboxed approach before scaling up nationwide. Dr Hamid spoke in parliament on Wednesday (Sep 24).