Quoting the latest National Health and Morbidity Survey report, she said the incidence of mental health problems had doubled over the last 10 years in the state, taking a serious toll on the economy, families and communities.

The findings were a wake-up call since they indicated that many people did not have a good quality of life, she said in a speech at the launching of the 1st Borneo Quality of Life Conference at Universiti Malaysia Sabah today.

Rundi was represented by her deputy Dr Lawrance Mah.

The conference was opened by state assistant minister of tourism, culture and environment Kamarlin Ombi who represented the minister Masidi Manjun.

Rundi revealed that most people with mental health problems were not treated even when they were severely disabled by their illness, adding that many of these people would either stop working or find difficulty in functioning while at work.

“Many of them are parents, struggling to provide adequate care for their children while being unwell, which puts the next generation at risk of similar problems,” she said.

Rundi said the sad thing was that most of these problems were treatable but the state’s current mental health services were inadequate to cope with this level of need.

“As a society, we need to tackle these problems urgently. We need huge amounts of collaboration and to break down the barriers between government agencies, the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

“We must work out how we are going to tackle these truly complex problems together,” she said.

On another note, she said huge improvements had been made in the state’s health services over the last 20 years, with the system rated highly around the world.

She said significant strides had been made in treating diseases that once were common killers.

“But we now have more battles to fight, particularly the non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and mental disorders,” she said.

She said they also had a new set of goals: the sustainable development goal.

“The emphasis now is not just to stop people dying, but to help people live lives worth living – to have a quality of life,” she said.

Masidi, in his speech, said the government was eager to read the resolutions from the conference and consider what could be incorporated into government policy.

“We hope that we will be able to make real progress in improving the quality of life of the people of Sabah,” he said.