Malaysia is a tropical country in the heart of South East Asia, at the crossroads of the ancient east–west sea trade routes. Although independent from British colonial rule only in 1957, it has a recorded history dating back to at least the first century ce, when the region was already the source of valuable mineral and forest produce that found markets in China, India and further west.

Malaysia has an area of over 330 000 km2, divided between Peninsular Malaysia (formerly known as West Malaysia, south of Thailand) and Sabah and Sarawak (formerly known as East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, on which are also Brunei and Kalimantan, part of Indonesia). Ethnically, the population comprises 55% Malay and other indigenous people, 33% Chinese and 9% Indians and other groups from South Asia. About 19 million of its 24 million inhabitants live in Peninsular Malaysia, while about 5 million live in the two states in Borneo, which have about three-fifths of the land area. The two eastern states joined independent Malaya in 1963. They are less developed and have fewer social and health services. The widely distributed population centres in these two states are separated by numerous rivers, mountains and few roads, which poses major challenges to the provision of good medical and psychiatric services. On Peninsular Malaysia, however, the long established infrastructure of roads and communications has contributed to better development of health services. Nonetheless, the development of both the east and west has reached a dizzying pace, with huge investments in both infrastructure and social services over the past two decades.

Development of health and mental health services in Malaysia

There are few records of health services that existed in ancient times but resort to traditional, herbal and religious healing must have started then. They continue to flourish today, despite modern medical and healthcare services being available nationwide. Malay, Chinese, Indian as well as various religious healing practices are available alongside modern medicine.

The modern healthcare system that is in use today was started under British colonial rule largely to cater for the plantation and mine workers in the rubber, palm oil and tin industries, to ensure their productivity, and the expatriate administrators. Indeed, the health service of old was known as the Estates Health Service.