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March - June 2010
Regional Conference on Mental Health: 20 years after the Declaration of Caracas. Celebration of World Mental Health Day
October 10, World Mental Health Day, will be celebrated this year under the slogan:“Mental Health and long term illness:the need for continued and integrated care.”
In the American Hemisphere, the main event organized to commemorate this date is the 2010 Regional Conference on Mental Health, which will be held in
Panama City on October 7-8. The Conference will take place within the framework of the XX Anniversary of the Declaration of Caracas, a milestone in the history of mental health. It will be sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and has the support of the World Federation for Mental Health. In addition, 2010 marks the beginning of the implementation of the regional Strategy and plan of action on mental health, approved by the Directing Council of PAHO, with the support of all the Member States, in September 2009. More information in this regard will be sent in future bulletins.
Find more about World Mental Health Day on the World Federation for Mental Health website.
Spain: Farewell to Benedetto Saraceno and welcome to Shekhar Saxena, new head of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
The event, which was held at the Ministry of Health and Social Policy in
Madrid on May 13, included rich testimonies as well as scientific and technical discussions. The meeting was organized by Manuel Desviat and sponsored by the Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry (AEN), the Mental Health Association of Madrid, and FEAFES (Spanish Confederation of Associations of Families and People with Mental Illness). Ten countries participated in this meeting.
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Launching of the book “Mental health in the community” in Argentina and Chile
A few months ago, the Regional Project on Mental Health and Rehabilitation of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Expanded Textbook and Instructional Materials Program (PALTEX) made a joint presentation of the second edition of Mental health in the community.
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Panama: Workshop on mental health protection in disaster situations
On April 19-20, a workshop on mental health protection in disaster situations was organized in
Panama by the National Mental Health Program of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) with the collaboration of the Social Security Fund and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). The two principal objectives of this workshop were to provide an update to those responsible for mental health in the 14 health regions of the country and national hospitals, and to review the mental health component in national and regional emergency plans. Thirty-five health professionals attended the workshop, and they received the "Practical guide for mental health in disaster situations" from PAHO and the "IASC (Inter-Agency Standing Committee) Guide on mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian emergencies and catastrophes."
The workshop was opened by Itza
Barahona de Mosca,
Panama’s General Sub-Director of Health, and by Joaquín Molina Leza, PAHO/WHO Representative in
Panama.
Juarez, Mexico: Workshop on mental health care for people affected by violence
A workshop on mental health care for people affected by violence was held in Ciudad Juárez on May 12-13. The workshop was organized by both the Federal’s and the State of
Chihuahua’s Health Secretariats with the collaboration of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in
Mexico and El Paso (USA). It was chaired by Octavio Avendaño from the Secretariat of Federal Health. María Teresa Cerqueira from the PAHO/WHO office in
El Paso was also present at the event.
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Nicaragua: Suicide prevention training
During the month of March, the Ministry of Health of
Nicaragua, with the collaboration of PAHO, developed suicide prevention training courses for health professionals from several departments in the country.
Guatemala and El Salvador: revision and update of their mental health systems evaluation
Guatemala and
El Salvador have completed a new data collection process using the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS). Both countries completed their first evaluation in 2006. The 2006 report is available on the PAHO website.
Mental Health Policy and Services Guidance Package: new module in Spanish
A new module in Spanish of WHO’s Mental Health Policy and Services Guidance Package is currently available on the PAHO and WHO websites. This new module on Information Systems and Mental Health is the 7th of the 14 original modules in English translated into Spanish.
Two training programs on drug studies offered by the Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
The first program is offered by the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). This Institute hosts the Humphrey Fellowship Program in Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Policy, a Fulbright exchange activity that brings accomplished professionals from selected developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe and Eurasia to the
United States at a mid-point in their careers for a year of study and related practical professional experiences. The Program at VCU is jointly funded by the U.S. State Department and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
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Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights 2010-2011
The Indian Law Society (ILS) in
Pune,
India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, announced the opening of admissions to the International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights for the 2010-2011 academic year.
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Interesting links:
Nominations Open Now for the 2010 - Awards for Excellence in Inter-American Public Health
Psiquiatría Sur
Project in
Guatemala: “Severe Psychiatric Disorders in Indigenous Populations”
International Epilepsy News
Events:
17-19 November, 2010,
Washington,
DC. Sixth World Conference on the Promotion of Mental Health and the Prevention of Mental and Behavioral Disorders.
Credits
Editorial Committee: Jorge Rodríguez, Hugo Cohen, Víctor Aparicio, Florencia Di Masi y Martha Koev
PAHO’s Mental Health Bulletin is published bimonthly in English and Spanish.
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