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September-October 2009
Strategy and Plan of Action on Mental Health adopted by PAHO´S Directing Council
Last October 2nd, the Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) -comprising the ministers of health of all the Member States- adopted the Strategy and Plan of Action on Mental Health, which can be considered a historical milestone of utmost importance.
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World Mental Health Day, 10 October
Commemoration at PAHO Headquarters in
Washington
 The campaign theme for World Mental Health Day 2009, “Mental Health in Primary Care: Enhancing Treatment and Promoting Mental Health,” was selected to disseminate and raise awareness about the critical need for giving greater priority to mental health care. It bolsters a vision of health systems where primary care workers and specialists collaborate to provide better care for the mentally ill person. The many public awareness and educational activities carried out worldwide in commemoration of this day will certainly help put this issue in the public eye and gear efforts to enhancing treatment and services for people with mental health problems.
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Celebration of World Suicide Prevention Day at the United Nations Headquarters
World Suicide Prevention Day is held every year on 10 September as an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and is cosponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). This year’s theme was Suicide Prevention in Different Cultures to remind us that suicidal behavior is influenced by cultural, religious, legal, historical, and philosophical factors that must be considered in the development of prevention programs. Suicide, then, must be understood within the cultural context of the populations involved, and suicide prevention programs must be adapted to that context.
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The Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of WHO visits Argentina
 In his first official visit to
Argentina as Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of WHO, Benedetto Saraceno called for progress in reducing the current gap between the enormous number of people who suffer from mental disorders and the limited services available, which are found chiefly in psychiatric hospitals.
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The Americas are Working to Change the Face of Mental Disability
The “International Seminar on Organic Mental Disorders, with Special Emphasis on Intellectual Disabilities, Epilepsy, and Dementia”, was held in Santiago de Chile from 19 to 21 August. This event was organized by the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization, the Ministry of Health of
Chile, and the Fundación Nuevos Rostros, with the support of
Chile’s
Central
University.
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Influenza H1N1
Mental health experts support doctors, nurses, and patients and their families in Argentina, in order to offer support to health workers that may be overwhelmed by work and stress as a result of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, a team of mental health professionals from the Mental Health in Critical Incidents Program (PROSAMIC) of the Ministry of Health of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, held meetings in several public hospitals of the City of Buenos Aires and in the province itself, supported by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Read more...
Guatemala - Panama Cooperation on Mental Health in indigenous populations
Guatemala and
Panama have launched the technical cooperation project “Mental Health in Indigenous Populations” in the Department of Sololá in
Guatemala and the Ngöbe-Buglé region in
Panama.
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Education of Young Mental Health Multipliers in the Dominican Republic
With the slogan “I promote mental health,” the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare’s General Department of Mental Health offered a workshop for young multipliers to raise their awareness about intrafamily violence and how it affects psycho emotional development. Thirty young people from different neighborhoods attended and worked on strategies to promote non-violence and foster self-esteem, values, and social networking
Jamaica Psychiatric Association’s Conference 2009
The Jamaica Psychiatric Association hosted their Conference 2009 under the theme Rehabilitation and Reintegration: rebuilding lives after crisis at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in
Kingston,
Jamaica on August 16, 2009. The conference was well attended and presentations spanned a broad range of issues under the overall theme. These included explorations of evidence-based mental health interventions for persons in crisis across the life-cycle as well as critical reviews of existing and proposed models for the provision of mental health services with emphasis on the areas of rehabilitation and reintegration. A highlight of the proceedings was the keynote address by Her Excellency the Most Honourable Lady Allen, wife of the Governor General of
Jamaica, in which she offered her support for finding and implementing strategies for furthering the development of mental health services in the country.
Tucumán, Argentina: Mental Health in Emergencies
 A module on mental health in emergencies focusing on the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic was developed in the
Province of
Tucumán,
Argentina, as part of the Mental Health Degree program, co-organized by the Department of Mental Health of Tucumán’s Ministry of Health, the
University of
Córdoba, and PAHO.
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History and Development of PAHO/WHO Program on Mental Health on the WEB
The document describing the background and historical development of the Pan American Health Organization Program on Mental Health is now available on PAHO´S website.
Bolivia and Ecuador: Final WHO-AIMS Reports
The final reports of the mental health care system assessments conducted in Bolivia and Ecuador using the World Health Organization’s Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) are already available on the websites of PAHO, WHO and InfoCom.
Guatemala and El Salvador Update the Assessment of their Mental Health Systems
With PAHO/WHO cooperation,
Guatemala and
El Salvador are updating the assessment of their mental health systems through WHO-AIMS, using the available data from 2008. The two countries were among the first to apply this instrument in 2005, based on data from 2004.
The Epidemiology of Mental Illness in Latin America and the Caribbean
 This book is the work product of a group of researchers and professionals of the highest caliber and recognition in the field of mental health in the
Americas. It reviews the findings of major epidemiological studies conducted in Latin America and the
Caribbean and discusses some specific issues of particular importance as they are, among others, the epidemiology of mental disorders in population groups with greater vulnerability, the use of mental health services, use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances, suicide and mental disabilities.
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Interesting links:
Events:
27-31 October, 2009, Montevideo, Uruguay, XXV World Congress on Suicide Prevention
5-8 November, 2009.
San Juan,
Puerto Rico. 8th International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health: “Work, Stress and Health 2009: Global Concerns and Approaches”.
7-9 June, 2010.
Ribeirão Preto,
Brazil. “XI Encuentro de Investigadores en Salud Mental y Especialistas en Enfermería Psiquiátrica: el contexto histórico-social y los escenarios
del cuidado en salud mental en la actualidad” (only in Spanish and Portuguese).
9-13 October, 2010.
East London,
South Africa. 16th National Congress of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP).
Credits
Editorial Committee: Jorge Rodríguez, Hugo Cohen, Víctor Aparicio, Devora Kestel, Armando Vásquez, Forencia Di Masi y Martha Koev
PAHO’s Mental Health, Disabilities and Rehabilitation Bulletin is published bimonthly in English and Spanish.
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