India
In Tamilnadu, the State Mental Health Authority and the Madras Medical College and Institute of Mental Health organized several events between 10 and 12 October. These included painting and public speaking competitions for school and college students on the theme of mental health and human rights. On 11 October a panel of professionals from the Institute of Mental Health answered questions from the public about mental illness. A seminar the following day on the human rights of the mentally ill was chaired by the head of the State Human Rights Commission, and members of the Commission participated.
Also in Tamilnadu, the Sadhana Trust & Research Centre, an organization devoted to the rights of the mentally retarded, planned a series of activities in Madurai on 10 October and printed an information pamphlet in both Tamil and English.
A mental health advocacy message was broadcast throughout the country by All India Radio on 12 October.
In Chandigarh, North India, Dr. Narendra Wig was instrumental in organizing lectures and public discussion sessions on the rights of the mentally ill. Dr. Wig is a former mental health advisor at the World Health Organization.
The staff and students of the College of Nursing, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Karnataka, celebrated World Mental Health Day by holding competitions for mental health patients, conducting an “Awareness of Mental Health and Human Rights” education programme and presenting an exhibition and a panel discussion on the “Legal Aspects in Psychiatric Nursing.” The activities took place from 7 to 10 October.