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November - December 2012
Latin American Conference on Epilepsy in Quito
On November 14-17,
Ecuador hosted the VII Latin American Conference on Epilepsy that was sponsored by the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE). The event served as a framework for the public and official presentation of the Cooperation Agreement between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), ILAE and IBE, established to jointly support the implementation of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Epilepsy -approved by PAHO Directing Council in September 2011.
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Seminar on public policies for disabilities with dependency
On October 30-31, 2012,
Chile’s National Secretariat for Disability organized an "International Seminar on Public Policy for Disabilities with Dependency". The event was attended by national and international experts and professionals, as well as by representatives of the academia, of governmental and non-governmental institutions, and the civil society, including people with disabilities and their families.
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Guatemala: Mental Health Services Management Course residential week
The III Mental Health Services Management Course residential week took place in Antigua (
Guatemala) on November 12-16. Thirty one students from nine countries (
Mexico,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
El Salvador,
Costa Rica,
Panama,
Cuba,
Belize and the
Dominican Republic) attended the course.
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Mental health policy officially launched in Costa Rica
As part of the celebration of World Mental Health Day (October 10),
Costa Rica’s Ministry of Health presented the National Mental Health Policy and its plan of action. It was attended by representatives of the Presidential House, the Legislative Assembly, and the diplomatic corps; public and private institutions that provide mental health services and training of human resources in mental health, the Social Security Fund, the Ministry of Health, and the media.
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La Ceiba, Honduras: Family and friends association - Sponsorship system
La Ceiba’s Association of families and friends of patients with mental health problems (Department of Atlántida,
Honduras) was created to support people with mental health disorders, involving the family, close friends and the community. One of the first activities was to raise funds for the purchase of medicines and to transport emergency patients. Among the goals for 2013, it is committed to helping reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental disorders and improving their life quality.
The Region has also established a "sponsorship" system, whereby a person sponsors another, of low income and with mental health problems, so that she/he has access to better and systematic care, including necessary medication.
Panama: suicide prevention
On November 27, 2012,
Panama organized a multidisciplinary and intersectoral workshop to review its Suicidal Behavior Prevention and Control Plan. Several contributions to the plan were made during the event as, for example, establishing a link with the new Suicidal Behavior Sub-Regional Observatory of Central America and the
Dominican Republic, and the use of the mhGAP self-harm/suicide module for training primary care health professionals. The workshop was chaired by Edgar Guerrero, National Mental Health Director.
Colombia: Meeting on social and community participation in mental health
The "I Meeting of national and international experiences of social and community participation in mental health." was held in
Cartagena de
Indias, on November 8-9, 2012. It was supported by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and was attended by many experts in the field.
Belize: Psychological First Aid (PFA) training in San Pedro
Recognizing the psychological and social impact of emergencies, the Mental Health Program of the Ministry of Health, with technical and financial support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), has been conducting training workshops with community health workers and first responders in Psychological First Aid (PFA) all over the country. These trainings are part of the Disaster Preparedness and Response Mental Health Action Plan, which is geared at strengthening the capacity of the community to support the implementation of PFA.
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WHO-AIMS and mhGAP Workshop in Venezuela
The Ministry of Popular Power for Health and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) coordinated the "Bridging the Gap (mhGAP)" workshop, which was recently held in
Caracas. The meeting pursued two main objectives: the incorporation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Mental Health Services Global Assessment System, for strengthening local policies through the use of WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS, for its acronym in English); and the presentation of WHO’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme –mhGAP-, for primary health care professionals.
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mhGAP training for PHC professionals in Panama and Honduras
 In October and November, 2012,
Panama organized training workshops for primary health care professionals in the use of the mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings. These workshops are part of the mhGAP Intervention Guide dissemination plan developed by the national mental health programs of the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the Social Security Fund, together with the National Institute of Mental Health.
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mhGAP training for PHC professionals in La Paz, Bolivia
From 28 to 30 November, 2012, the Health Promotion Unit of the Ministry of Health and Sports, through the Mental Health Department, organized a training workshop for primary health care professionals on the mhGAP Intervention Guide.
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Adaptation of mhGAP Guide in the Dominican Republic
On November 29 and 30, eighteen experts from various disciplines gathered in a workshop organized in Santo Domingo to adapt the mhGAP Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialized health settings. It was coordinated by José Mieres, Head of the National Mental Health Program, and facilitaed by the Subregional Advisor on Mental Health, Victor Aparicio Basauri. The mhGAP Intervention Guide is mainly intended to primary health care professionals.
Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights, Pune, India
The Indian Law Society (ILS) in
Pune,
India, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, announces the 5th year of the International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights.
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Publications
Medwave: Mental health monographic publication
Several articles on mental health were published in the August 2012 issue of Medwave, a Chilean electronic biomedical journal (only for unpublished works and of open access): an editorial by Rafael Sepúlveda (Chile); an article on psychiatric reform in Spain (Francisco Torres); one on mental health research in Chile (Sandra Saldivia, Pamela Grandón and Benjamín Vicente); a third article about mental health in Central America and the Dominican Republic (Victor Aparicio and Jorge Rodríguez); and the last one on psychiatric reform in Brazil (Domingo Alves, Paulo Silva and Nilson Costa). The magazine can be viewed at: http://www.mednet.cl/link.cgi/Medwave/5541
Assessing mental health and psychosocial needs and resources: Toolkit for humanitarian settings
The WHO-UNHCR publication was developed to help you to collect the necessary information to assist people affected by humanitarian crises more effectively.
Interesting Links
Credits
Editorial Committee: Jorge Rodríguez, Hugo Cohen, Víctor Aparicio, Dévora Kestel, Maristela Monteiro, Maria Florencia Di Masi y Martha Koev.
PAHO’s Mental Health Bulletin is published bimonthly in English and Spanish.
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