LETTERS: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) Commission on Social Connection estimates that loneliness affects one in four elderly adults and between five and 15 per cent of adolescents.
The severity of the issue has prompted the commission to establish a global agenda dedicated to improving social connection in communities.
In recognising the state of loneliness, WHO declared it to be a "global public health concern".
The experience of a lack of authentic social connection, resulting in feelings of social isolation, has adverse psychosocial impacts on individual and communal health. Information on loneliness indicates that feelings of intense loneliness and social isolation can exacerbate underlying issues associated with mental health.
A Meta-Gallup survey conducted in more than 140 countries, which equals to a billion people worldwide, revealed that a quarter of adults worldwide feel "very or fairly lonely".
What was most concerning was that the data showed that it was young adults (aged 19 to 29) who experienced the highest levels of loneliness.
The worsening of the loneliness epidemic follows years of disconnected physical relationships as a consequence of the pandemic, which limited in-person contact.
In Malaysia, a study revealed that 14 per cent of people feel fairly or excessively lonely.
The government found that the issue had also affected adolescents, in which 16.2 per cent of secondary school students experienced loneliness.
The authorities should deter social isolation and prevent loneliness from worsening.
The long-term impact of loneliness could weaken social structures that provide for healthy and productive nations.
A new policy framework must investigate initiatives that boost community-bonding activities in residences, transforming these neighbourhoods into beacons of human interaction.
It must also develop measures to tackle anti-social behaviour.
PRAVIN PERIASAMY
Networking and partnership director,
Malaysian Philosophy Society,
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times