Please click here to download the March 2013 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

Dr. Naasson Munyandamutsa, of Rwandese origin, was assigned as prize winner 2011 of the Prize of Geneva for Human Rights in Psychiatry. The prize was handed to him on 22 September 2011 during the closing session of the 15th World Congress of Psychiatry in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Prof. Mario Maj, WPA President (2008-2011) and Prof. Françoise Ferrero, President of the Foundation.

World Psychiatric Association General Assembly 2011 was held on 21 September Buenos Aires, Argentina, in conjunction with the 15th World Congress of Psychiatry (18-22 September 2011, Buenos Aires).

Dear Colleagues and Friends from around the world:
I am deeply honored and pleased for the confidence deposited on me by the WPA General Assembly...

This course was organized by the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health  (a Geneva based not-for-profit organization) and designed by Professor N. Sartorius. It was conducted in collaboration with the Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore.

Abuja, the serene and beautiful capital city of Nigeria, hosted this course, which was designed by Professor Norman Sartorius, under the auspices of the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health (AIMH), a Geneva-based, not-for-profit organization. This course, co-sponsored by the World Psychiatric Association, took place towards the end of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) regional meeting in Abuja (22- 24 October, 2009) and it was the third of its kind.

If somebody was to ask the participants of the Course on the Leadership and Professional Skills of Early Career Psychiatrists after having spent four days on Heybeliada, the best one of the princess islands off the coast of Istanbul, “What three things would you take to a desert island?”, I believe the answer would be a team of professors to learn from, a group of peers to interact with and a challenging agenda to work on.

At the WPA-congress in Buenos Aires in 2011, the members of the WPA-Genetics in Psychiatry Section elected a new leadership. The Section is now headed Thomas G. Schulze (Chair; Göttingen, Germany), Vishwajit Nimgaonkar...

As our section deals with the issues related to abnormalities in immunological parameters and their consequences in terms of neuropsychiatric disorders, the neurotoxicity induced by some inflammatory related molecules such as cytokines...

The 108th annual meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology (JSPN) was held May 24-26, 2012 in Sapporo, the capital of the northern island of Hokkaido. This historic city is famous for its Snow Festival, Sapporo Brewery...

On behalf of APAL Executive Committee, we wish to express our deepest grief, sorrow, and solidarity to the people from Brazil, particularly to our beloved colleagues and brothers from the Brazilian Psychiatric Association-ABP...

Given the current model of Armenian healthcare system that lacks a comprehensive mental health program approved by the government, a working group has been created in 2012 to develop a mental health strategy for the Republic of Armenia...

Report on the WPA co-sponsored “1st International Congress of Early Career Psychiatrists” with the theme “Towards Professionalism in Psychiatry”, held in Cairo, Egypt on 9-11 January 2013...

The Croatian Psychiatric Association (CPA) was founded in 1992, and is a member of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) since June 1993. The CPA organizes a psychiatric congress every four years (five have been organized so far - Split 1994...

The 65th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society held at NIMHANS Bangalore on 10-13 January 2013 was a grand success. With over 3,700 registrations, it has set a new record. More than 225 Posters, 225 free papers...

The Congress of the German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) is one of the annual highlights for scientists, doctors and therapists. Each year more than 9,000 participants and 1,600 speakers meet...

The French Psychiatric Information Society (SIP) produces scientific data, information and articles in collaboration with the Union of Hospital Psychiatrists (SPH) and the Journal of Psychiatric Information (Information psychiatrique)...

The WPA Section on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry co-sponsored a range of events at this meeting...

The WPA Section on Immunology and Psychiatry has been actively participating in the WPA activities and other activities related to the relationship between immunology and psychiatry...

The WPA Section on Clinical Psychopathology has participated in the Third (III) Congress of Psychiatrists of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The congress, organized by the Psychiatric Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina (PABH)...

The National Annual Meeting (SEPD) on Dual Pathology in its 14th edition took place in Madrid on 25-27 October 2012, with over 900 registered participants...

On 10 October 2012, the Sudanese Psychiatric Association celebrated the World Mental Health Day. The celebration was held in Abel Al Al Idrissi Hospital. This is the state hospital for treating the criminally insane and patients who are dangerous...

The 17th biennial national SASOP Congress was held on 7-11 September 2012 in Muldersdrift, Johannesburg, with the theme: “Pride, prejudice and promise – from origins to outcomes”...

The WPA Section on Transcultural Psychiatry has developed an intense and fruitful activity during the second part of the year 2012, discussing the most relevant topics of the specialty. The Section participated actively in the International Congress

The WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry has succeeded in presenting the Section’s activities in several symposia and workshops entitled as...

It was our good fortune and privilege to be able to participate in this very exciting World Congress last October in Prague. The Congress was organized without a flaw and with much local flexibility and resourcefulness under the theme of Focusing on Access...

Our Section organized a WPA Preventive Psychiatry Section Symposium on 11 January 2013 during the 65th Annual Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society in Bangalore...

The WPA Section on Philosophy and Humanities in Psychiatry is pleased to let you know of its new project and requests your valuable contribution. A book is being planned in which the application of the principles of Values-Based Practice will be presented...

The International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) held its most successful meeting to date in Istanbul, Turkey on 14-17 March 2012.  With over 900 in attendance, the meeting offered engaging keynote presentations...

The 2013 World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics, 17-21 October 2013, is taking place at an exciting time in the field of mental health research when an increasing number of genetic risk factors for psychiatric disorders are being identified

The International Congress of the WPA in Prague in October 2012 has been an important stage in the development of the WPA Section on Military Psychiatry. During the Congress, a Section symposium and a Section business meeting were held...

The WPA Section on Exercise, Psychiatry and Sports is publishing a book with Wiley Press May 2013 on Current Issues in Sports Psychiatry: An International Perspective...

Our members face certain challenges: we are committed experts regarding “education in psychiatry” but we each have a wide range of obligations and responsibilities in our daily routines. Nevertheless, we still manage to find time and energy to carry out...

Our Section is co-sponsoring the International Association for Women's Mental Health (IAWMH) in organizing the 5th World Congress on Women's Mental Health in Lima, Peru, on 4-7 March 2013. Prof. Anita Riecher-Rössler is the President of the IAWMH...

A meeting of WPA Scientific Section chairs took place during the Prague International Congress (October 2012). This was attended by 50 participants representing more than 30 Sections. The main objective of this meeting was...

Antoine BESSE left us suddenly on Monday, 8th of October 2012, struck by a massive heart attack at the end of a French Federation of Psychiatry business meeting which he was participating in as the President of the Section on Therapeutics...

As previously announced, the III Congress of Psychiatrists of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 12-14 October 2012, as the first national congress of our Association after its reorganization in 2008...

A primary care in mental health workshop was organized for LHVs, Paramedics, GPs and health professionals from all over AJK; over 30 participants were trained...

On 1 January 2013 Professor Aartjan T. F. Beekman was appointed president of the Netherlands Psychiatric Association. He succeeds Professor Rutger Jan van der Gaag who in turn has been appointed President of the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG)...

The 46th National Conference of the Italian Psychiatric Association (SIP) took place last October in Milan, Italy, and was attended by WPA’s President, Prof. Pedro Ruiz, President-Elect, Prof. Dinesh Bhugra, and Past-President, Prof. Mario Maj...

The Conference was held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) on 29 November-1 December 2012. It was organized by the Emirates medical association under the umbrella of the Arab Fedration of Psychiarists, and was co-sponsored by the WPA...

The Second Meeting of the Presidents of the WPA Zone 10 Psychiatric Societies took place in Kharkov, Ukraine on October 4, 2012. The Meeting was attended by the Presidents of most Psychiatric Societies of the East European WPA Region...

The town of Alice Springs is at the very centre of Australia. Its indigenous name is Mparnpwe, the literal meaning of which is "meeting place" as it was a traditional place of coming together for various regional indigenous groups at times of ceremonies...

The second most important Conference of our Society - the National Mid-term CME (Continuing Medical Education) - which was held at Bodhgaya (the birthplace of Lord Buddha) on September 1-2, 2012 was a grand success...

The Young Psychiatrists’ Network (YPN) is a rapidly growing movement of young and active psychiatrists from all over the world, eager to reunite psychiatric theory and practice and ensure transfer of knowledge between different psychiatric traditions...

The Lithuanian Psychiatric Association is the largest organization in Lithuania for mental health professionals whose mission is to ensure the care of community mental health. Established in 1990, it currently has been joined by the majority of Lithuanian psychiatrists...

Save the date: Friday, 24th May 2013. Put it in your diary/agenda NOW...

The Pakistan Psychiatric Research Centre (PPRC) and Fountain House, Lahore organised their 7th International Conference in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) on 6-8 July 2012...

A WPA Symposium on Educational Perspectives was held in September 2012 in Bilbao (Spain) within the framework of the Annual Meeting of the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry...

The conference took place in Ramallah (co-sponsored by the WPA) on 11-12 October 2012 with local, regional and international speakers on various psychiatric topics...

The vibrant city of Montreal played host to this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) on September 27-29. It was a lively event with 1,270 registrants in attendance taking in everything from workshops and courses to symposia and paper sessions...

It is an honor and pleasure to introduce the new WPA Section on HIV/AIDS Psychiatry. Our members are deeply appreciative of the enthusiastic support of Prof. Pedro Ruiz, WPA President and that of Prof. Afzal Javed, WPA Secretary for Sections...

The Section on Exercise, Psychiatry and Sports presented at the Olympic Sports Medicine Congress in Glasgow, Scotland and Cambridge, England. Profs. Baron and Zhu gave a symposium on ADHD in Athletes...

During the past year we have been happy to contribute to the following: Wilson, DR and Price, JS (2011) Male philopatry, female entrapment, and sex difference in the incidence of depressive illness...

One of the main activities of the Section in the last months has been the promotion of the Revision of the Latin American Guide for Psychiatric Diagnosis (GLADP-VR) to be published in the near future...

Report from the WPA Regional Meeting
“Mental Health and Disaster: Beyond Emergency Response”
 Bali, Indonesia,
 September 13-15, 201...

The WPA сo-sponsored meeting “Clinical Challenges in Psychosomatic Medicine” organized by the International Society of Quality Medicine and the Russian Society of Psychiatrists was held in Moscow, Russia...

The following are the list of activities of the members of the WPA Section on Women’s Mental Health. Dr. Anita Riecher-Rössler is a Board member of our Section. She is also active as the president of the International Association for Women's Mental Health (IAWMH)...

We are selecting 50 foreign graduate or post graduate students with research projects in the area of prevention of mental health to participate in the Y-Mind Sao Paulo Advanced Science School...

The Section organised a one-day conference in March 2012 at the Belle Idée psychiatric clinic on the theme: Why, how and for whom is inpatient psychoanalysis intended?  There was a good turnout and the atmosphere was very convivial...

Depression: the facts, published by the Oxford University Press in 2011 (2nd edition, ISBN: 978-0-19-960293-3), has won the BMA Board of Science Award for the Public Understanding of Science on September 13, 2012...

The Section organised a one-day conference in March 2012 at the Belle Idée psychiatric clinic on the theme: Why, how and for whom is inpatient psychoanalysis intended?  There was a good turnout and the atmosphere was very convivial...

The Section on Psychiatry, Medicine and Primary Care will be presenting a symposium at the upcoming WPA International Congress in Prague on Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Primary Care in collaboration with the Section on Education in Psychiatry...

During the recently concluded WPA Regional Meeting held in Bali, Indonesia on September 13-15, 2012, the WPA Section on Psychiatric Rehabilitation organized a Symposium and also conducted a workshop.

Our members face certain challenges: we are committed experts regarding “education in psychiatry” but we each have a wide range of obligations and responsibilities in our daily routines...

The WPA action plan for the triennium 2011 – 2014 set by WPA President Prof. Pedro Ruiz and approved by the WPA General Assembly included an emphasis on training and education especially for middle and low income countries around the world. Several programs were held in the form of “Educational Seminars”...

President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus awarded on the occasion of Czechoslovakia Foundation Day on October 28, 2012 the Medal of Merit to Professor Jiri Raboch stating "... is a excellent Czech psychiatrist, head of the Psychiatric Department...

During the 46th National Congress of the Italian Psychiatric Society held in Milan, Italy, on October 7-11, 2012, Dr. Francesca Brambilla was recognized with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her scientific contributions on behalf of the World Psychiatric Association’s Section on Psychoneuroendocrinology...

Please click here to download the October 2012 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

Please click here to download the September 2012 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

Report on activities of the region

The initiative to strengthen the Finnish-Russian collaboration was discussed by the Board members of the Finnish Psychiatric Association (FPA) (Profs. J. Korkeila, T. Svirskis, and N. Lindberg), and the Russian Society of Psychiatrists (RSP) (Profs. N. Neznanov, V. Krasnov, A. Bobrov, Z. Kekelidze, O. Limankin, and M. Kulygina) during a meeting held on 12 December 2011 within the 4th Congress on Social and Forensic Psychiatry in Moscow, Russia.

The Annual Congress of the Czech Psychiatric Association took place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Krkonose mountain region in the northern part of Bohemia with the participation of more than 600 Czech, Moravian and Slovak psychiatrists, nurses and consumers. 

A new web-portal of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists (www.psychiatr.ru) has been updated in June 2012. 

Over 1,040 delegates attended The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ 47th annual Congress in Hobart from 20 to 24 May 2012.

The Swedish Psychiatric Association managed this year to gather 620 of its members at the annual Congress. 

The new Executive Council (EC) of the Indian Psychiatric Society assumed office during the 64th Annual Conference of the Society at Kochi on January 19-22, 2012.

Crises and Disasters occur very frequently in our world. Some of them are natural, others are human-made. 

This Symposium was organized by the Association for Biological Psychiatry/Psychopharmacology in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABPPFBH) and the Department of Psychiatry of University Clinical Center Sarajevo.

The WPA Section on Transcultural Psychiatry (WPA-TPS) has succeeded in joining Northern and Southern Europe by holding a joint conference with the DTPPP.

On June 4-6, the Section on Stigma and Mental Health of the World Psychiatric Association co-hosted the 5th InternationalTogether Against Stigma Conference with the Mental Health Commission of Canada through their Opening Minds anti-stigma initiative.

The board of the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry worked hard to introduce a new Religion Survey developed by our team.

The WPA Section on Perinatal Psychiatry and Infant Mental Health is focused both on parental and infant mental health without one or the other being predominant.

The Section on Psychiatry, Medicine and Primary Care is working with members of the Section on Education in Psychiatry on developing a training program for non-psychiatrists to work in Primary Care settings to provide mental health care. 

Philosophy of Psychiatry Summer School: Mind, Value and Mental Health

Nowadays every public or private psychiatric service should manage challenging Dual Disorders Patients (DDP). 

The WPA Section on Pharmacopsychiatry was very productive in the past years and published altogether five position papers that were published in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences as well as in Schizophrenia Research. 

The Section on Exercise, Psychiatry and Sports is completing a new book with Wiley, which has been endorsed by the WPA Executive Committee.

With the growing knowledge that the vast majority of psychiatric disorders have their onset in childhood and adolescence, the WPA Section on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry represents a broad and vitally important element of world psychiatry. 

The membership of the ISPS has voted to drop 'schizophrenia' from its name, on the basis that the label schizophrenia covers diverse disorders with diverse outcomes requiring diverse approaches, and because of the stigma and lack of hope often associated with the diagnosis.

Report on activities

Mental illness has the highest burden in Ghana, more particularly in our rural communities/remote areas. An estimated 25% of the youth and adult population are suffering from mental illnesses, mainly due to high intake of alcohol, smoking, drug abuse, stress arising out of poverty, and extensive domestic activities on the part of women/housewives. These are serious health challenges in our rural communities.

VI National Course on Dual Pathology and Gender, 21 June 2012, Bilbao, Spain, NICOTINE, DUAL PATHOLOGY AND FEMALE GENDER

Influence of ethnos on formation of alcohol dependency and level of social functioning of indigenous population of Siberia

The 27th APAL Congress will be held at the Sheraton Libertador Hotel in the city of Buenos Aires on 16-19 November 2012. APSA (Argentinean Psychiatrists Association) will be in charge of its organization.

On 23 June 2012 in Lagos, Nigeria, the MHF Team paid an advocacy visit to a Children’s Home (SOS). The SOS care givers were lectured on DEPRESSION.

The Argentinean Congresses of Psychiatry organized by the Argentinean Psychiatrists Association (APSA) have become a traditional event all around the Latin American Southern Cone Region.

Early this year, thousands of passengers arriving daily at JFK Airport in New York City were greeted by a billboard without a welcome message or the usual scenic photo of the Big Apple. 

The annual conference of the African Association of Psychiatrists and Allied Professions (AAPAP) will hold in Lagos, Nigeria on November 22 – 24, 2012. The theme of this year’s conference, Mental Health Challenges for Africa in the 21^st Century, captures the current efforts of various stakeholders on the continent to get governments to attend to the large unmet need for mental health service that exists across the region.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK) awards Honorary Fellowships to Professor Dinesh Bhugra and Professor Mario Maj. An edited version of the citations that accompanied this honour are reproduced below.

A select group of experts in the field of psychiatric education and cultural psychiatry were invited by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar to hold a workshop addressing the undergraduate psychiatry curriculum in developing countries and its relevance to the needs of the local population.  

Please click here to download the April 2012 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

The 2nd National Congress of Dual Pathology and Addictive Behaviors was held at Coimbra, Portugal on 8-10 February 2012, getting together 290 professionals who work with dual pathology patients, including psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, nurses, social workers and rehabilitation professionals.

Nowadays every public or private psychiatric service should manage challenging Dual Disorders Patients (DDP). DDP became a standard patient and not the exception. Therefore, services should deliver comprehensive solutions to outgrowing patient necessities.

WPA Co-sponsored XIV National congress of the Serbian Psychiatric Association and the III Eastern European Psychiatric Congress will be held from 18-21 April 2012 in Sava Centre, Belgrade (Serbia), under the auspices of President of Republic of Serbia.

Please click here to download the March 2012 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

Please click here to download the February 2012 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

The Board of the WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry, Chair Dr. Peter Verhagen, Co-chair Prof. John Cox, Secretary Prof. Nahla Nagy, and Editor Advisors Prof. Alexander Moreira-Almeida and Simon Dein have worked hard over the past few months to finish the first issue of the Section’s Newsletter “Psyche and Spirit”

The Section on Exercise, Psychiatry and Sports recently got the approval of the WPA Executive Committee (EC) to publish a book with Wiley Press on Recent Advances in Sports Psychiatry: A Global Perspective.

Since the changes brought about after the elections in Buenos Aires, I am pleased to present the new officers of the WPA Section on Transcultural Psychiatry:

Chair:         Rachid Bennegadi

Co-Chair:   Marianne Kastrup 

Secretary:  Hans Rohlof

The Section on Psychiatry, Medicine and Primary Care is beginning work on a project to develop a program to train non physician, mid-level mental health providers in LMIC. 

Determining the socio-demographic and clinical profile of psychiatric outpatients is crucial to identify the needs but also to optimize screening procedures.

The Spanish Society of Psychiatry (SEP), together with the Spanish Society of Biological Psychiatry (SEPB), hosted the Third Conference on Journals with Impact Factor in Psychiatry, which was held on 17-18 February 2012 in Palma, Mallorca.

The French “Société of Information Psychiatrique (SIP)”, whose President, Nicole Garret Gloanec is also the current president of the French Federation for Psychiatry, is holding its annual meeting on 3-6 October 2012 in Lyon (co-sponsored by the WPA).

The Sudanese Association of Psychiatrists pays its compliments and thanks to the WPA Executive Committee and member associations for their continued support extended to our Association.

A workshop for media persons on the theme “Mind” and Health - An awareness programme for media, was organized in Lahore, Punjab on 13 December 2011 in which 60 senior journalists from print media and electronic media participated.

The Swedish Psychiatric Association's (SPF) participation in the Swedish Annual General Meeting for Medical Doctors on 30 November-2 December 2011 with distinguished international and Swedish lecturers was a success. The great hall at the Stockholm International Fairs was packed at the psychiatric section of the program in the afternoon of 1 December.

The Indonesian Psychiatric Association has developed some sections in the association to fulfill the need of members of the association who come from many backgrounds and interests.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has a busy annual conference schedule that promises something for everyone. WPA members are warmly invited to attend our events.

The Hungarian Psychiatric Association (HPA) held its 17th Annual Conference on 26-28 January 2012. The venue was in Debrecen, the north-eastern Hungarian university town, and one of the cultural hubs of Hungary. This year’s theme was “Body-Soul-Family-Community: The Borders of Developing Psychiatry”.

We present the report on the WPA Regional Meeting which was held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 3-5 November 2011. The main theme of the meeting was “Asian mental health: Current and future prospective”. It was a good opportunity for us to share the mental health promotion in Asia with different experts from all over the world.

The Cyprus Psychiatric Association organized a Symposium on “Medical Ethics, Group Psychotherapy and Person Centered Medicine”, on 13-14 January 2012 at the University of Nicosia.

The Annual National Conference of the Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS 2012) was held in Kochi, Kerala on 19-22 January 2012. It was attended by more than 3,000 delegates including accompanying persons.

This Conference is funded by the NIMH and sponsored by the University of Rochester, the University of Jordan, MGH Harvard University and International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), and the Jordanian Psychiatrists Association.

The psychiatric associations in the neighbouring countries, Finland and Russia, have a long tradition of educational and scientific co-operation. The co-operation has been on hold for the last years. The Finnish Psychiatric Association and the Russian Society of Psychiatrists met in Moscow on 12 December 2011 to discuss bi-lateral measures to revitalise the co-operation.

The Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) held a highly successful 61st Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia on October 13-15, 2011. One of the highlights of the Conference was the launch of the CPA Position Paper on Stigma and Discrimination. The paper was published in the October 2011 Canadian Journal of Psychiatry and attracted significant media attention.

The Asian Federation of Early Career Psychiatrists of the AFPA headed by Dr. Smirnova and generously organised by the Indo Global Psychiatric Initiative (IGPI) under the President Prof. Russell D'Souza and with the very hard work of Prof. Dinesh Narayanan, Dr. E. Mohandas, Chair of the WPA Section on Psychiatry in Developing Countries and colleagues in Kochi, Kerala held a very successful two-day training conference.

The WPA Section on Perinatal Psychiatry and Infant Mental Health is focused both on parental and infant mental health without one or the other being predominant.

The French “Société of Information Psychiatrique (SIP)”, whose President, Nicole Garret Gloanec is also the current president of the French Federation for Psychiatry, is holding its annual meeting on 3-6 October 2012 in Lyon (co-sponsored by the WPA).

A working group has been created to develop a Mental Health Policy for the Republic of Armenia within the framework of a signed Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia and Open Society Foundations - Armenia.

Professor Dinesh Bhugra, Past-President of the Royal College of psychiatrists and President-Elect of the WPA was awarded CBE (the second highest civilian honour) by H.M. The Queen for services to psychiatry in the 2012 New Years Honours List

The German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (DGPPN) invites you to the upcoming DGPPN Congress on 21-24 November 2012 in Berlin, Germany.

The 64th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Society (ANCIPS 2012) was held at the beautiful city of Kochi, Kerala, India, January 19-22, 2012. It was a hugely successful event with the participation of more than 3500 delegates, along with representatives from 30 countries from around the globe.

The Organizing Committee of GLADET’s Third International Congress welcomes you to our most important event. The first GLADET Congress took place in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in April 2008, with the theme “Psychiatry, Nature, and Culture: from the individual to the universal”, and featured contributions by distinguished colleagues from five continents.

The first Meeting of the Presidents of the WPA Zone 10 Psychiatric Societies took place in Moscow, on December 14, 2011. The Meeting was attended by the Presidents of most Psychiatric Societies of the East European WPA Region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Russia (RSP and IPA).

The Arab Board of Psychiatry Exam was held in Amman, Jordan, on December 8-11, 2011, at the Al Rashid Hospital.

Dear colleagues, mental health professionals and students, I am pleased to announce that the World Association of Psychiatry Section on Epidemiology and Public Health biannual meeting will be held in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 14-17, 2012.

WPA Co-sponsored XIV National congress of the Serbian Psychiatric Association and the III Eastern European Psychiatric Congress will be held from 18-21 April 2012 in Sava Centre, Belgrade (Serbia), under the auspices of President of Republic of Serbia.

Dalsaev Moussa was born on January 9 in 1947. He joined school in 1959 and has finished his study with silver medal. In 1964 he had entered Northern Ossetian Medical University. During his study he had shown enormous interests in scientific research.

In Zone 2 (United States) one of the major developments for all of medicine has been health care reform. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (PPACA), became law in November 2010, if and when fully implemented, will significantly change the health care delivery system in the United States.

In line with the WPA Action Plan 2008-2011, WPA has been is in the process of improving its organizational image and identity, and the WPA Media Channels had played an important role in this process.

Two workshops on Integration of Mental Health in Primary Care were conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, PIMS in collaboration with King’s College London, British Council and THET. The duration of the workshop was five days for each group.

The WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry has been active at the 15th World Congress of Psychiatry (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18-22 September 2011).

The WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry has been actively participating in different international and national psychiatric meetings in the past six months.

The traditional School for young psychiatrists regularly takes place as an educational and scientific event in Souzdal (Central Russia) since 1979. The 10th School was organized by the Russian Society of Psychiatrists (RSP) and brought together...

On September 6-7, 2011 in Tomsk, Mental Health Research Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences celebrated its 30th anniversary. International status of the event was evident by participants from Germany, Sweden and Kazakhstan.

Almost 200 delegates from 30 countries attended the Fifth EUFAMI European Congress, which was held in Basel, Switzerland on the 24th and 25th September 2011.

The members of the WPA Section on Women’s Mental Health have been actively promoting women’s mental health in their respective countries and internationally.

The WPA Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry has been actively participating in different international and national psychiatric meetings in the past six months.

As with any preparation of an international meeting of the WPA our Section’s executive spared no time or energy in collaborating with the Scientific Program Committee and supporting our members and colleagues in Buenos Aires.

During the WPA World Congress of Psychiatry recently held in Buenos Aires, the Section on Philosophy and Humanities in Psychiatry was pleased to offer two symposia to the participants.

The meeting of the WPA Section on Immunology and Psychiatry was held on 19th of September at the WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Buenos Aires.

Pedro Ruiz, M.D., WPA President attended the 50th Annual Congress of the Colombian Psychiatric Association, held in Cartagena, Colombia...

After six years of decisive leadership leading the Section to be one of the larger ones in the WPA, Dr. Silvana Galderisi’s term ended. The new set of officers reflects the expanding scope of this discipline.

"Mental Health in Jamaica: The Way Forward" was the theme of this year's Jamaica Psychiatric Association's Annual Conference organized by the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry (Section of Psychiatry), UWI, Mona.

In the first semester in 2011, the Indonesian Psychiatric Association (IPA) has held some meetings for developing and continuing medical education for psychiatrists in Indonesia.

There was a panel discussion on the mental health day theme “The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health- Making Mental Health, a Global Priority” in which Beena Bhasan, Fazal Mohammed, Rev AC Kurian and KM Abdulla presented papers.

"Dr. Ambi" as she is affectionately known to the people of Papua New Guinea (PNG), has laboured with determination in creating innovative methods in delivering quality Mental Health Services in our nation.

In conjunction with the 5th Symposium of Biological Psychiatry in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Konjic, "Garden City Hotel & Spa"), the 3rd General Assembly of the Psychiatric Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina (PABH) was held on 10 October 2011.

Organized by the Association for Biological Psychiatry / Psychopharmacology in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ABPPFBH) and the Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Center Sarajevo and co-organized by the Psychiatric Association of Bosnia-Herzegovina (PABH), the 5th Symposium of Biological Psychiatry/Psycopharmacology in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held on 10-11 October 2011 in Konjic ("Garden City Hotel & Spa").

The traditional Symposium Mostar’s Psychiatric Saturday was held this year for the eighth time. The theme of symposia “Ethics and Morality Disorders in a Modern Medicine and Society” brought together over 200 mental health (and related disciplines) professionals from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) regularly develops and updates position statements and issues media releases delineating policy on key topics to inform and influence mental health outcomes, and to enhance public perception and understanding of psychiatrists and psychiatric practice.

The Biological Psychiatry Interest Group of the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) successfully hosted a Biological Psychiatry Congress in Stellenbosch on 22-24 September 2011.

The Guatemalan Psychiatric Association is made up of 60 specialists in psychiatry.  It holds monthly meetings where expository conferences aim to promote continued medical education for the specialists.

During its 2010 Congress, the German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (DGPPN) held a special event to commemorate the victims of psychiatry under National Socialism.

The financing of somatic specialities has been increased by 10 % during the last decade in Denmark, while the financing of mental health has only been increased by 2 %, this despite the fact that the need for psychiatric treatment has not decreased, and that the treatment costs are more expensive.

The Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrists (BAP), an active WPA Member Society from the South Asian Region organised its 6th International Conference on 16-18 October 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

News and activities from the Czech Psichiatric Association of the Czech Medical Association including activities in the website, regular monthly scientific workshops and organization of the Psychiatric Congress 2011.

As part of its Action Plan 2008-2011, the WPA has produced four guidance papers on "Steps, obstacles and mistakes to avoid in the implementation of community mental health care", "How to combat stigmatization of psychiatry and...

A new WPA book of the series “Anthologies of International Psychiatric Texts” has just appeared and will be launched at the Greek Embassy in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, 20th September at 7.00 p.m.

The Island Republic of Fiji in the Western Pacific with 850,000 people has had a mental hospital since 1884, a medical school since 1885 and a Nursing School since 1893 and its largest general hospital the Colonial war Memorial Hospital (CWMH) was opened in 1923.

The SAARC Psychiatric Federation (SPF) organized its 5th Conference at Lahore on 25‐27 March 2011. SPF was launched in Lahore in 2004 and it was a great privilege for Pakistani psychiatrists to host this meeting again in the city of Lahore that was attended by more than 250 delegates from all over the country along with representatives from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, UK and Australia.

The German Association for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (DGPPN) invites you to the upcoming DGPPN Congress 2011 from 23 to 26 November 2011 at the International Congress Center (ICC) in Berlin, Germany. The DGPPN congress is no longer just a national meeting place, but increasingly attracts international attention.

The Indo-Global Psychiatric Initiative (IGPI) was organized on 14-15 January 2011 at New Delhi. The two day scientific deliberations were excellent thanks to the scholarly presentations by Matcheri Keshavan (Harvard), Rohan Ganguly (Canada), Gyansham Pandey (USA), Meera Narasimhan (USA), Dinesh Bhugra (Royal College of Psychiatrists), Russel D’Souza (Australia), E Mohandas (India), Carol Bernstein (APA President), Shiv Hatti, and Rudraprakash (Indoamerican Psychiatric Association) and other luminaries around the world.

The ISPS is an affiliate association of the WPA. ISPS stands for the International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and other Psychoses.

Over the past several years, the health care organisations in a number of countries including Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States of America have recognized the importance of incorporating psychosocial care into national cancer treatment plans.

Chronic insomnia represents a major public health problem. It is characterised by prolonged sleep onset latency, problems in maintaining sleep, early morning awakenings or the feeling of non-restorative sleep, coupled with significant daytime impairments.

The World Psychiatric Association, as part of its Action Plan 2008-2011, has launched a programme of research fellowships for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, in collaboration with internationally recognized Centers of Excellence in Psychiatry. Within this programme, the World Psychiatric Association is funding a one-year international mental health research fellowship in collaboration with the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.

The World Psychiatric Association, as part of its Action Plan 2008-2011, has launched a programme of research fellowships for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, in collaboration with internationally recognized Centers of Excellence in Psychiatry. Within this programme, the World Psychiatric Association is funding a research fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

The World Psychiatric Association, as part of its Action Plan 2008-2011, has launched a programme of research fellowships for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, in collaboration with internationally recognized Centers of Excellence in Psychiatry. Within this programme, the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA is funding a one-year research fellowship in the therapeutics of bipolar disorder.

The World Psychiatric Association, as part of its Action Plan 2008-2011, has launched a programme of research fellowships for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, in collaboration with internationally recognized Centers of Excellence in Psychiatry. Within this programme, the World Psychiatric Association is funding a research fellowship at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH, USA.

WPA President M. Maj established the Task Force on Best Practice in Working with Service Users and Carers in 2008, chaired by H. Herrman. The Task Force had the remit to create recommendations for the international mental health community on how to develop successful partnership working. The work began with a review of literature on service user and carer involvement and partnership. This set out a range of considerations for good practice, including choice of appropriate terminology, clarifying the partnership process and identifying and reducing barriers to partnership working.

The next WPA General Assembly will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 21, 2011. The list of candidates (i.e., individuals who received at least one valid nomination) for the positions open for election...

The first survey on the prevalence and correlates of mental disorders in the Iraq population, carried out by the Iraq Ministries of Health and Planning in collaboration with the World Health Organization, has been accepted to be published in World Psychiatry, the WPA official journal.

mhGAP Newsletter will be published by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, WHO, twice a year.

The workshop will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia in June 2010. The course director is Michael Musalek of the Anton Proksch Institute.

SAARC Psychiatric Federation (SPF) organized its 5th Conference at Lahore from 25‐27 March 2011 & was attended by more than 250 delegates from all over the country along with representatives from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, UK and Australia.

Science Day in our country is traditionally observed on 8 February according to the Presidential Decree “About Establishment of Russian Science Day”. This dates back 11 years, since 1999

Members of the Institute of Australasian Psychiatrists attended and contributed at the recent stimulating PRCP meeting in Brisbane in 2010.

The Lithuanian Cultural Psychiatry Association (LCPA), inaugurated in 2004, is an Affiliated Association of the WPA, as well as of the World Association of Cultural Psychiatry.

Please click here to download the April 2011 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

Please click here to download the flyer of EUFAMI's 5th European Congress, Basel, Switzerland, 24-25 September 2011.

Please click here to download the EUFAMI Congress Newsletter Number 2 - March 2011.

The purpose of this guidance is to review currently available evidence on mental health problems in migrants and to present advice to clinicians and policy makers on how to provide migrants with appropriate and accessible mental health services.

Please click here to download the November 2010 issue of the e-bulletin of EUFAMI.

EUFAMI recently launched its virtual Action Network at a Mental Health event in the EU Parliament in Brussels. The event, Toward Europe 2020: The role of Mental Capital and Well-Being, was hosted by Nessa Childers, MEP from Ireland.

Apart from the regular annual state conferences, there were five Zonal Conferences in Psychiatry. The focus was on research methodology, psychosocial rehabilitation, physical health of mentally ill, consultation liaison psychiatry, and women’s mental health.

This is the Report for the period 2009-2010 for the WPA Zone 12.

On 25 September 2010, the Armenian and Georgian Psychiatric Associations held a meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Armenian attendees were Armen Soghoyan, President of the Armenian Psychiatric Association (ArPA) and WPA Zonal Representative, Armen Melik-Pashayan, ArPA Secretary for Education, Vahan Simonyan, ArPA Secretary for Reforms, Aram Hovsepyan, ArPA Technical Secretary and Arthur Potosyan, Secretary General of the Armenian Medical Association.

We are most appreciative of the support and encouragement of our WPA President Mario Maj, M.D., Ph.D. and the Executive Committee in helping us with our educational, research, and clinical missions and projects. Below are some of the accomplishments from Zone 2.

Since the beginning of my appointment, I have been actively working in the development of the main objectives of my action plan.

It was brought to my attention that a group of French colleagues started in 1995 at a psychiatric hospital, near Avignon, France, a journal they named Psy-Cause¹. This journal was geared as a vehicle to bring information and professional development to the hospital staff.

In 2009 the WPA President established a Task Force that was to examine available evidence about the stigmatization of psychiatry and psychiatrists and to make recommendations about action that national psychiatric societies and psychiatrists as professionals could do to reduce or prevent the stigmatization of their discipline as well as to prevent its nefarious consequences.

This paper provides guidance on the steps, obstacles and mistakes to avoid in the implementation of community mental health care. The document is intended to be of practical use and interest to psychiatrists worldwide regarding the development of community mental health care for adults with mental illness.

The WPA website is reconstructed and redesigned lately with a higher quality content and aesthetics based on a well developed infrastructure.

Minutes of the WPA Board Meeting, Prague September 20, 2008 were reviewed and approved with the inclusion of Professors Henrik Wahlberg, Dusica Lecic- Tosevksi, Naotaka Shinfuku and Armen Soghoyan being in attendance; highlights of the zonal reports were presented by the representatives. Copies of the zonal plans from zones 11 and 12 were distributed...

Determining the socio-demographic and clinical profile of psychiatric outpatients is crucial to identify the needs but also to optimize screening procedures.

On June 4-6, the Section on Stigma and Mental Health of the World Psychiatric Association co-hosted the 5th InternationalTogether Against Stigma Conference with the Mental Health Commission of Canada through their Opening Minds anti-stigma initiative.

Crises and Disasters occur very frequently in our world. Some of them are natural, others are human-made. 

The Second Meeting of the Presidents of the WPA Zone 10 Psychiatric Societies took place in Kharkov, Ukraine on October 4, 2012. The Meeting was attended by the Presidents of most Psychiatric Societies of the East European WPA Region...

As previously announced, the III Congress of Psychiatrists of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 12-14 October 2012, as the first national congress of our Association after its reorganization in 2008...

Report on the WPA co-sponsored “1st International Congress of Early Career Psychiatrists” with the theme “Towards Professionalism in Psychiatry”, held in Cairo, Egypt on 9-11 January 2013...