The Roles of NGOs in Promoting Mental Health for the PLHIV Community in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The first support for HIV/AIDS intervention for the PLHIV community in Malaysia was initiated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) particularly to sustain positive living and to reduce the mental health and psychosocial impact of HIV/AIDS. While there may be several studies pertaining to mental health and HIV/AIDS carried out in Malaysia, there are limited studies on the role of the Malaysian HIV/AIDS NGOs in promoting mental health. The mental health conditions of the PLHIV community cannot be easily summarised as the side effects of the infectivity as the contributory factors affecting the PLHIV‟s mental health are varied according to their needs and groups of community particularly due to the stigmatisation of the pandemic in Malaysia. The HIV/AIDS NGOs which initially started as support groups are now challenged with more intensified and wide-ranging task particularly with the introduction of the Malaysian National Strategic Plan in 2006. However, the capability of the small number of HIV/AIDS NGOs to cater for the needs of over 90,000 cases of HIV/AIDS in Malaysia remains unrequited. These NGOs have played a crucial role in providing diverse services and have become the core intermediaries to the various groups of stakeholders. Yet, there is still a serious need to strengthen their effort in promoting mental health as a mission for the PLHIV community‟s well-being. Promoting mental health demands specific skills to enable the PLHIVs to accept cope and manage their condition an expertise which HIV/AIDS NGO members need continuous training and guidance. With a majority of volunteers‟ involvement and limited professional workers, the NGOs face a great challenge in realising its aims of promoting mental health among the PLHIV community. This paper looks into some of the ways for mental health programme inclusion in HIV/AIDS NGOs and concludes with some future directions in identifying a collaborative agenda with various stakeholders as well as policy adjustment that will enable to sustain mental health promotion for the PLHIV community in Malaysia.