WFMH Leaders attend WHO Annual Meeting for NGOs
WFMH President Pirkko Lahti, Secretary-General/CEO Preston J. Garrison, and WFMH’s Main Representative for the UN and WHO in Geneva, Dr. Stan Flache, participated in the annual meeting of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with mental and neurological disorders, December 17-18, at the headquarters of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Representatives of 12 organizations in official relations with WHO, of which WFMH is one, and representatives of 10 additional NGOs working on related issues participated in the meeting, including Dr. Leo de Graaf, President of Mental Health Europe. Much of the meeting’s agenda focused on the Global Campaign Against Epilepsy and the Mental Health Global Action Programme (mhGAP). Updates were also provided on the WHO Atlas project cataloging country resources for mental and neurological disorders, the process for selecting a new Secretary-General for WHO, and plans for enhancing collaboration between the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence and nongovernmental organizations.
Dr. Derek Yach, Executive Director of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health, and Dr. Benedetto Saraceno, Director of the Department, chaired the meeting. WHO staff participating included Dr. Jose Bertolote, Coordinator, Management of Mental and Brain Disorders; Dr. Leonid Prilipko, Programme Leader, Neurological Diseases and Neuroscience; and Dr. Shekhar Saxena, Coordinator, Mental Health: Evidence and Research.
Of particular interest to WFMH and its constituencies was the discussion of the WHO Mental Health Global Action Programme (mhGAP) that follows from the 2001 release of the WHO World Health Report focusing on mental and neurological disorders. MhGAP is an effort to provide a clear and coherent strategy for closing the gap between what is urgently needed and what is currently available to reduce the economic, social, and personal burden created by mental disorders, worldwide. This five-year initiative will focus on forging strategic partnerships to enhance countries’ capacity to address the stigma and burden of mental disorders comprehensively. It aims to increase governments’ awareness and responsiveness to mental health issues; enhance the quality and effectiveness of mental health prevention, promotion and rehabilitation services; reduce stigma and discrimination; and take important steps towards reducing the burden of a range of conditions and enhancing the mental health of the world’s population.
During the coming months, WFMH’s leadership will be working with the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence to develop specific areas of collaboration through which WFMH can contribute to the promotion and realization of the objectives established for the WHO Mental Health Global Action Programme (mhGAP).