Welcome

The Haiti Emergency

The first psychiatrist recruited to serve in Haiti as part of the WPA-WHO collaboration has started his mission. His name is Kent Ravenscroft. He has been Training Director in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at both George Washington and Georgetown Universities. He speaks French and Creole in addition to English. He lived in Haiti in the past and has been a consultant to Rotberg’s book “Written in Blood”, a social and economic history of Haiti. He has a long experience in dealing with mental health consequences of traumas.


The Chile Emergency

The WPA has expressed its availability to help in dealing with the mental health consequences of the disaster which struck Chile. The WPA leadership is in contact with the MH Focal Point in the PAHO/WHO Representation in Chile, Armando Vasquez. At this time, the Chilean government is deciding about what kind of international aid they need.


WPA Official Journal

View the recent editions of World Psychiatry in English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Romanian and Polish.
read more


WPA Official Newsletter

December 2009

September 2009



WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Council

The WPA Early Career Psychiatrists Council has actively started its work. A coordinator has been elected for each geographic area.
read more

An Action Plan for 2010 has been finalized. Read the Action Plan (PDF Format) read more



A Media Consultant
for the WPA

The Association has recently engaged a health communications consultant to highlight to the international media news relating to WPA activities and to communicate the organization’s perspective on topical issues in mental health.
read more


Depressive Disorders, 3e, from the WPA Evidence and Experience Series
The publication of a new edition in the Evidence and Experience series of the World Psychiatric Association, Depressive Disorders, 3e (ISBN 9780470987209) is announced. read more


WPA Publications Project on the Dissemination of Mental Health Research
A WPA publications taskforce was appointed in 2008 to promote the dissemination of research from low-income and middle-income countries.read more

From the Lancet: "A global perspective on the dissemination of mental health research.

read more


20% Discount on
Wiley-Blackwell
Psychiatry Books
  • Fast, simple and secure ordering!
    You can order books online at www.wiley.com.
    Alternatively please call the Wiley customer services department on 0800 243407 (UK customers) or +44 1243 843294 (overseas customers).
  • Please quote the promotion code VA114 for the offer listed above.
  • This offer is not available in bookshops.
  • The promotion code is active and expires in 2012.

20% Discount from
OUP Publications
to WPA Members

Working closely in partnership with Oxford University Press (OUP), the Section of Philosophy and Humanities in Psychiatry is delighted to announce a %20 discount from OUP publications to WPA Members. This initiative is aimed at widening access to literature in all areas of psychiatry and philosophy and is not restricted to titles specific to the Section's scope. A 20% discount will be granted to all WPA members ordering any book from OUP's lists of psychiatry, philosophy and related areas.  The promotion is valid only for purchases direct from the publisher's online shop. The OUP website has been recently re-designed and a homepage has been specifically created to announce this initiative. It can be found at: www.oup.co.uk/sale/websocwpa.  No password or promotion code will be requested in addition to the customers' identification and mailing address.


WPA Monthly E-Bulletin

We will be pleased if the officers of the WPA Member Societies forward the monthly E-Bulletin to all of their individual members.
Read the latest e-bulletin. read more



Call for News
Call for News to WPA Member Societies, Zone Representatives and Affiliated Associations


Donors supporting the
WPA Action Plan
See who is supporting the WPA Action Plan.
Photograph of Professor Mario Maj

Message from WPA President

Professor Mario Maj

At the end of the first year of my mandate as WPA President, I am providing you with a summary of the main activities implemented by the Association during the year. READ MESSAGE.

WPA Action Plan 2008-2011 - September, 2008.  Read Action Plan pdf format

2011 International Congress in Argentina

The 15th World Congress of Psychiatry in Buenos Aires

The 15th World Congress of Psychiatry will take place from 18 to 22 September, 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It will provide an overview of the achievements which have stood the test of time and of the most promising trends in the various areas of psychiatric research and practice, with the contribution of the most prominent international experts. READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT WITH KEYNOTE LECTURES AND CORE SYMPOSIA: English Version | Spanish Version

WPA Member Societies and Scientific Sections participate in the development of ICD-11

The WPA Member Societies and the relevant WPA Scientific Sections are participating in the process of development of the chapter on mental and behavioural disorders of the ICD-11. WPA Member Societies will carry out shortly a systematic global survey of psychiatrists’ experiences and attitudes regarding classification systems. Leaders of WPA Scientific Sections on Personality Disorders (Peter Tyrer) and Intellectual Disabilities (Luis Salvador-Carulla) have been appointed as Chairpersons of the ICD-11 Working Groups on Classification of Personality Disorders and on Classification of Intellectual Disabilities.

No Health without Mental Health

WPA International Call for Research Proposals

No Health Without Mental Health. The WPA will fund an innovative international project involving research centres in psychiatry and at least one other medical specialty, investigating the epidemiology, pathogenesis, social implications, cultural variation and/or management of the comorbidity between one or more mental disorders and one or more physical diseases. read more

 


WPA
Programme
on
Depression

WPA Programme on Depression in Persons with Physical Diseases PDF format

The WPA has started a programme aiming to raise the awareness of the prevalence and prognostic implications of depression in persons with physical diseases. Three volumes are in publication with Wiley/Blackwell, dealing respectively with depression and diabetes (first editor: W. Katon), depression and heart disease (first editor: A. Glassman) and depression and cancer (first editor: D. Kissane). Three corresponding sets of slides are being developed and translated in several languages. Please click here to see the English version of the slides on Depression and Diabetes.[PDF format PDF format]

First Impact Factor of World Psychiatry: 3.896!

World Psychiatry, the official journal of the World Psychiatric Association, has recently received its first impact factor, which is 3.896. The Association is grateful to all the colleagues who have produced articles for the journal, thus contributing to this achievement.

 

WPA Project

WPA Project on Partnerships for Best Practices in Working with Users and Carers

The main goal of this project is to prepare guidelines for best practices in working with users and carers, for the international mental health community.

read more

Upcoming
Train-the- Trainers workshops

WPA Train-the-Trainers Workshops in Sri Lanka (June-July 2010)

One of the goals of the WPA Action Plan is to promote the development of mental health care in low-income countries and its integration into primary care. This goal is being pursued by a train-the-trainers programme targeting nurses and clinical officers working in dispensaries and health centers, implemented in selected low-income countries. The next series of WPA train-the-trainers workshops will take place in Sri Lanka (Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna, Mathara, Kampara) in June and July 2010, under the leadership of Rachel Jenkins and Jayan Mendis.

WPA International Congress

The WPA Florence Congress: 9,000 participants!

The WPA International Congress “Treatments in Psychiatry: a New Update”, held in Florence from 1 to 4 April, has been a major success. We have had about 9,000 participants from 125 countries. The scientific programme included, among the other ingredients, lectures delivered by the 10 top-cited scientists in psychiatry and psychology during the past 10 years, according to Essential Science Indicators.

Map of Iraq

Iraq Mental Health Survey in World Psychiatry

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 published in World Psychiatry, the WPA official journal.

 

WHO and WPA logos

WHO-WPA Work Plan 2008-2011


A work plan has been established that includes:

  • Revision of the ICD-10 chapter on mental and behavioural disorders
  • Collaboration in the mhGAP
  • Partnership on mental health care in emergencies
  • Collaboration in the area of substance abuse
  • Partnership on involvement of users and carersread more
  • Click here to read a report by the WPA President

WPA-WHO
Train-the Trainers workshop

Disasters and Conflicts: WPA-WHO Workshop

The WPA-WHO Workshop on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Areas Affected by Disasters and Conflicts took place at the WHO Headquarters in Geneva from 27 to 31 July, 2009. Please click here to read a report on the workshop.read more

WPA
Training Course in Disaster Management

The WPA Training Course in Disaster Management in Dhaka, Bangladesh

A training course in disaster management took take place at the WPAread more Regional Meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh (January 21-23, 2010).

Choosing Psychiatry as a Career
Research Project

Choosing Psychiatry as a Career

The WPA has issued an international call for research projects aiming to assess the factors facilitating and those hampering the choice of psychiatry as a career. The deadline for submissions was June 30. Twenty submissions were received. The selected project, submitted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK, is entitled “International study on student career choice in psychiatry”. This project will be funded by the WPA.   Please click here to have more details

Research Projects funded by the WPA

Research Projects funded by the WPA

The WPA will fund the following research projects conducted by its Scientific Sections:

  1. Stigmatization of psychiatry and psychiatrists. An international control-group study”, submitted by the Sections on Schizophrenia, Stigma and Mental Illness, and Forensic Psychiatry;
  2. A cross-national multi-center study of depression, demoralization and functional impairment in cancer patients”, submitted by the Section on Transcultural Psychiatry.

Please click here to have more details.

China meeting in September 2010

A WPA meeting in China

A WPA international congress will take place in Beijing, China, from 1 to 5 September 2010. Visit the Web site for more information or to register for the meeting online.

WPA Regional Meeting
October 2009

WPA Regional Meeting, Abuja (Nigeria), October 22-24, 2009

The recently concluded World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Regional Meeting, held in Abuja, Nigeria on October 22 -24, 2009, attracted 309 delegates from 19 countries.read more

WPA-WHO Policy Roundtable
October 2009

WHO-WPA Policy Roundtable in Abuja


A WPA-WHO Policy Roundtable took place during the World Psychiatric Association Regional Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.read more
Map of Iraq

The WPA Train-the-Trainers Workshop: Ibadan

The 5-day WPA training workshop for the teachers of mental health in community health officers’ training institutions in the southwest of Nigeria took place at the University of Ibadan Conference Centre, Ibadan from 26 to 30 January, 2009. read more


WPA
&
University of Pittsburgh

Applications for a Research Fellowship

Research Fellowship in the Field of Mood Disorders. As part of its fellowship programme for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, the WPA is funding a research fellowship at the Department of Psychiatry & Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UMPC). Ninety-four applications were received by the deadline of June 30. The selected fellow is Dr. Tolulope Theresa Bella, from Nigeria. read morePlease click here to have more details.


WPA
&
University of Maryland

Applications for a Research Fellowship

Research on Psychosocial or Health Services Issues. As part of its fellowship programme for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, the WPA is funding a research fellowship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Fifty-nine applications were received by the deadline of September 30. The selected fellow is Dr. Yu-Tao Xiang, from China. read more

WPA
&
Case Western Reserve
University

Applications for a Research Fellowship

Research on the phenomenology and therapeutics of bipolar disorder. As part of its fellowship programme for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, the WPA is funding a research fellowship at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland, OH, USA. Forty-eight applications were received by the deadline of September 30. The selected fellow is Dr. Jun Chen, from China. Please click here to have more details. read more

WPA
&
Institute of Psychiatry, London

Applications for a Research Fellowship

Research on international mental health. As part of its fellowship programme for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, the WPA is funding a research fellowship at the the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London. Forty-one applications were received by the deadline of November 30. The selected fellow is Dr. Abiodun Adewuya, from Nigeria. Please click here to have more details.

WPA
&
University of Melbourne

Call for Applications for a Research Fellowship

Research on early intervention in emerging mental and substance use disorders in young people. As part of its fellowship programme for early-career psychiatrists from low- or lower-middle income countries, the WPA is funding a research fellowship at the Centre for Youth Mental Health/Orygen Youth Health Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Australia.read more

Exemplary experiences in Mental Health and Psychiatry across the World

Early detection and effective intervention services in psychosis: exemplary experiences from Australia, Singapore, U.S.A., Ireland, U.K., Germany, Norwayread more, and Denmark. Read entire document. pdf format

The Asia-Pacific Community Mental Health Development (APCMHD) project was established in 2005 to explore diverse leading models or approaches to community mental health service delivery in the Asia-Pacific region. The objective is to illustrate and promote best practice in mental health care in the community through use of information exchange, current evidence and practical experience in the region. Read entire document (PDF Format) Pdf Document
read more

SCARF is the acronym for the Schizophrenia Research Foundation, a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Chennai (formerly Madras) in South India. SCARF was established in 1984 by a group of philanthropists and mental health professionals led by Dr. M. Sarada Menon, an internationally renowned psychiatrist. In the twenty five years since, SCARF has reinforced itself as a center of repute in rehabilitation and research in disorders of the mind.
Read entire document.read more

A Course for Young Psychiatrists
in Africa

A Course for Young Psychiatrists in Africa:
Nigeria, 24-26 October 2009

A course for young psychiatrists, designed by N. Sartorius under the auspices of the Association for the Improvement of Mental Health (AIMH), and co-sponsored by the WPA, took place in Abuja, Nigeria on 24-26 October 2009.read more

A Course for Young Psychiatrists in Singapore

A Course for Young Psychiatrists:
Singapore, February 25-28, 2009

A course on development of leadership and professional skills for young psychiatrists, led by N. Sartorius and co-sponsored by the WPA, took place in Singapore on February 25-28, 2009.read more

New WPA Educational Programmes

WPA Educational Programmes

Several educational products have been developed recently or are being developed by the WPA. Please click here to read a piece by the WPA Secretary on Education, Allan Tasman, and to see some of these products.

 

New WPA Workshop in Russia

WPA Workshop - "Humanistic Treatment in Psychiatry"

This workshop will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia in June 2010. The course director is  Michael Musalek of the Anton Proksch Institute. Please click here to read more about human-based medicine and evidence-based medicine.

 

A Prevention Programme for Adolescent Suicide in Italy
Fatebenefratelli e Oftalmico Hospital in Milan and the association “L’amico Charly onlus” designed an experimental project for the acute and the long term treatment of the adolescent suicide attempt. read more

Psychiatrist named Australian of the Year
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists congratulates Professor Patrick McGorry on being named the 2010 Australian of the Year.read more

News of the Indonesian Psychiatric Association (IPA)
A new president of IPA has been elected at the 6th National Congress of the Indonesian Psychiatric Association (IPA). Two national events are planned in 2010.read more

Serbian Psychiatric Association News
Three news items including the October 2009 Second Eastern European Congress of Psychiatry, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts news and the designation of the Belgrade Institute of Mental Health (IMH) as a WHO Collaborating Center for Mental Health Workforce Development.read more

Workshop at the 59th Canadian Psychiatric Association annual meeting
This workshop was entitled: The World Psychiatric Association New Tri-Annum Plan 2008-2011: How Canada Should Fit in? The Presenter was Pr Raymond Tempier of the University of Saskatchewanread more

Brazilian Association of Psychiatry Community Program Uses Theater
The 15-minute sketch staged in São Paulo subway stations tells a story that discusses stigma and mental health, especially the issue of prejudice against psychiatry.read more

The 27th Brazilian Congress of Psychiatry
With more than 150 different activities held, the top meeting of Brazilian and Latin American psychiatry featured courses, conferences, symposiums, forums, special sessions, workshops, and round tables. Considered the world’s second largest national psychiatric congress, the event convened almost six thousand participants, including psychiatrists, physicians from other specialties, and other health professionals.read more

ABP President’s Symposium Convenes International Researchers
A lively debate on the main theme of the 27th Brazilian Congress of Psychiatry: Psychiatry on the Vanguard of Medical Progress read more

International Psychiatry, a journal produced by the UK Royal College of Psychiatrists
The journal is intended primarily as a platform for authors from low- and middle-income countries, sometimes writing in partnership with colleagues elsewhere. Submissions from authors based in international divisions of the Royal College of Psychiatrists are particularly encouraged. read more

Comorbidity of Opioid and HIV Infection Dependence in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The problem of narcotic consumption and narcotic dependence has become especially timely in the Republic of Kazakhstan, as it is onread moree of the priority problems threatening national safety.

News from Serbian Psychiatric Association. Workshop – Guidelines forread more Treatment of Psychotic Disorders.

News from Zone 16 Representative. Activities of WPA Zone 16 –read more Southern Asia. View a listing of past and upcoming meetings and events.

News from the American Psychiatric Association (APA)
The APA Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators will be heldread more during the 2010 APA Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA on Sunday May 23, 2010.

Danish Psychiatric Association experiencing shortage of psychiatrists
Denmark is presently experiencing a shortage of psychiatrists with up to 25% of specialist posts vacant, and the National Board of Health estimates that this percentage will increase till 2020. Recruitment of medical students to the read more psychiatric discipline is thus of utmost importance.

Netherlands Psychiatric Association - International Conference on Transcultural Psychiatry, 13-16 June 2010. This conference addresses issues with the societal changes and their influence on clients and communities. We need to reflect on our clinical practices, our research agenda and read moremaybe also on the position of mental health workers in the public debate.

South Asian Forum International donation for IDPs in Sri Lanka & Pakistan
South Asian Forum International donates 1.300 Pounds for IDPs in Sri Lanka & Pakistan at a session organised at the 10th read moreInternational Seminar on Psychiatry held at UK.

Latest Activity of the WPA Eastern European Zone: Russian Translation of “World Psychiatry” For most of the 10.000 psychiatrists working in the WPA Eastern European Zone, Russina is still the working language. As part of the Zone 10 Action Plan, the scientific journal of WPA, “World Psychiatry” (WP) has been translated into Russian.read more

News from the Association of Psychiatrists of Bosnia and Herzegovina Psychiatry days were held in Banja Luka from 20th to 21st of March 2009 with a focus on the ‘Contemporary Approach to Bipolar Affective Disorder’.read more

The Third Cuban Glossary of Psychiatry (GC-3) is the Cuban Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual developed by Cuban mental health professionals. View and download glossary (PDF format).read more

The WPA co-sponsored IV. Macedonian Psychiatric Congress and International Meeting with a wide international participation was held on 27-31 May, in the UNECSO city of Ohrid, Macedonia. read more

Please find the latest issue of the Bulletin of the Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations (AFPA), led by the WPA Zonal Representative for Eastern Asia (Zone 17) Professor Naotaka Shinfuku. read more

News from Argentina Alfredo Cia, an officer of the Association of Argentinean Psychiatrists (APSA), has produced a short review of the transformation of mental health care systems in Argentina.read more

A book entitled ‘The day the mountains moved: international perspectives on handling psycho-trauma’ has been published by
U. Niaz. read more

Book Review: "When Blushing Hurts. Overcoming Abnormal Facial Blushing".
In an excellent book entitled When Blushing Hurts, noted Chilean psychiatrist Enrique Jadresic M.D. enlightens a clinical disorder known as pathological blushing (PB). The book presents an outstanding clinical description of the illness based on the author’s own experience as a patient accompanied by his precise phenomenological approach, derived from years of clinical practice. read more

A Psychiatrist Wanted for Great Cause
The Department of Psychiatry at Jimma University which is situated in Jimma, Ethiopia, is planning to launch a two year innovative graduate training program for mid-level health professionals. They are searching for a psychiatrist to help start a new program to train mental health professionals with master's degree. read more

News from the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria
Dr. Oyewusi Gureje, Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Ibadan College of Medicine and who is also the President of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria was conferred with the award of the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) by the President of Nigeria. read more

The 4th SAARC Psychiatric Federation meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh
SAARC Psychiatric Federation organised its 4th regional meeting in Dhaka from 1-3 November 2008.read more

News from the South African Society of Psychiatrists
The South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) has, at its last annual general meeting at Fancourt, George converted from an Associated to a Not–for–Profit Company. read more

Psychiatry Board Certification
Psychiatry board certification examinations were initiated in Turkey in 2006. The aim was to motivate psychiatrists who had already been qualified in psychiatry to be up to date in recent developments in the field, thus improving good clinical practice and quality of psychiatric services in the country. read more

The first Professorial Chair in Philosophy and Psychiatry outside Europe
Professor Werdie van Staden has recently been appointed to the first professorial chair in philosophy & psychiatry outside Europe. read more
A new Textbook of Suicidology and Suicide Prevention, produced by D. Wasserman, Chairperson of the WPA Section on Suicidology. read more
WPA Section for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Moscow Meeting
During the October 2009 2nd Eastern European Psychiatric Congress, which was held in Moscow, a symposium on issues of special interest in child psychiatry was organized by the Section.read more

WPA Section for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Meeting in Budapest
WPA’s Section for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry organized a symposium based on mental health promotion and prevention. It was held at the August 2009 International Conference in Budapest. read more

Latest activities of the WPA Section on Education in Psychiatry, preparead morered by Bulent Coskun, Chair

Obituary: Professor Leon Eisenberg, M.D. The flag was lowered to half-staff in honor of Leon Eisenberg, the Maude and Lillian Presley professor emeritus of social medicine at HMS, who died on September 15th. Eisenberg is known around the world for innovative research in autism, groundbreaking advances in pediatric clinical trials and psychopharmacology, and integration of social experience intread moreo the study of disease.

BDSA: A screening scale for depression in athletes. The chair of the WPA Section on Exercise and Sports Psychiatry, Professor David Baron, has recently copyrighted a screening scale for depression in athletes (Baron Depression read moreScale for Athletes; BDSA). The Section is currently translating it for global use.

Book announcement from the WPA Section on Preventive Psychiatry: Suicide Prevention (A Handbook for Community Gate Keepers). This book, edited by Prof. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil (Co-chair, WPA Section on Preventive Psychiatry) read moreand Varghese P. Punnoose was released on 28 April 2009.

The WPA Section on Art and Psychiatry - Roots of Human Violence, By Hans-Otto Thomashoff By integrating neurobiology, psychoanalysis, psychology and child-psychology, a concept evolves which unveils a series of influences on the aggressive potential an individual read moreperson will develop as a character trait or under specific environmental circumstances.

News from the Latest Meeting of WPA Section on Old Age Psychiatryread more

Report from the WPA Transcultural Section; “TREATMENTS IN PSYCHIATRY: a new update” held in Florence, Italy on 1-4 April 2009read more

A new Global Burden of Disease study is underway.read more
The WPA Section on Public Policy and Psychiatry had a meeting at the Florence WPA 2009 Congress.read more
A Child and Adolescent Skill Training Programme will be held in Mumbai, India by the WPA Section on Psychiatry in Developing Countries.read more
Prof. Ian Brockington, a renowned expert in the area of women’s mental health, has produced recently two books dealing, respectively, with organic psychoses of pregnancy and puerperium and menstrual psychosis. Please read the tables of contents and some reviews.read more
The WPA Section on Art and Psychiatry announces the publication of the book ‘The person in art: conceptual and pictorial frames on art and mental health’.read more
The International Consensus Statement on Women’s Mental Health and the WPA Consensus Statement on Interpersonal Violence against Women Pdf Document
In 1999, women’s mental health leaders from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and Australia began a fact finding process to determine the psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors which were most salient to women’s mental health and mental illness. At the 2001 First World Congress on Women’s Mental Health in Berlin, they rank ordered these factors.read more

The WPA Section on Public Policy and Psychiatry has recently updated their Web pages to include their field of interest and activities. View Section web pages.read more

I Internacional Suicide Congreso in Pasto, Colombia 27-29 August 2009
This successful Congress was organized by Prof. Cástulo Cisneros Rivera, Psychiatrist, Past President of the Colombian Association of Psychiatry and Director of the Medicine Program of the University of Nariño.read more

2nd World Congress of AFPA -Asian Fededraion of Psychiatric Associations, Taipei, Taiwan 7-10 Nov 2009
More than 400 delegates attended this congress. Jointly organised with Taiwan Psychiatric society, it attracted delegates from all East Asian countries along with countries from Malaysia, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Nepal and many other Asian countries. read more

Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations presented Awards for Excellence in Psychiatric Development at the Second World Congress of Asian Psychiatry in November 2009read more

The 2nd Eastern European Congress of Psychiatry, organized by the Psychiatric Association for Eastern Europe and the Balkans (PAEEB) was held in Moscow from 27 to 30 October 2009.read more

XII Jornadas de Patología Dual This year the conference will extread moreend to three days as well as extend a call for papers on dual pathology.

IPOS Holds the 11th World Congress of Psycho-Oncology in Vienna, read moreAustria, June 2009. This was the first time that IPOS organized its meeting in Austria.

II International Congress on Dual Disorders
Organized by Sociedad Española de Patología Dual (SEPD), co-sponsored by the World Psychiatric Association and with the collaboration of theMinistry of Health and the Generalitat de Catalunya, the II International Coread morengress on Dual Disorders will take place in Barcelona on 5-8 October 2011

European Conference on Children of Parents with Mental Illness: 26-27 November 2009, Vilnius, Lithuania. THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN, A major European Conference addressing the subject of read morechildren of parents with a mental illness

The training programme of the Spanish Society on Dual Pathology
The Spanish Society on Dual Pathology (Sociedad Española read more de Patología Dual - SEPD) has just launched its dual pathology training program in Spanish.

WPA Leadership (2008-2011) is installed. View photos and biosketches and read the first Board Report:

WPA Member Societies and Affiliated Associations

(updated WPA GA 2008)

Search meetings online

WPA Upcoming Scientific Events



The World Psychiatric Association

The WPA is an association of national psychiatric societies aimed to increase knowledge and skills necessary for work in the field of mental health and the care for the mentally ill. Its member societies are presently 134, spanning 112 different countries and representing more than 200,000 psychiatrists.

The WPA organizes the World Congress of Psychiatry every three years. It also organizes international and regional congresses and meetings, and thematic conferences. It has 65 scientific sections, aimed to disseminate information and promote collaborative work in specific domains of psychiatry. It has produced several educational programmes and series of books. It has developed ethical guidelines for psychiatric practice, including the Madrid Declaration (1996).

What are its Aims?

  • The core missions of WPA include the following:
  • To encourage the highest possible standards of clinical practice
  • To increase knowledge and skills about mental disorders and how they can be prevented and treated
  • To promote mental health
  • To promote the highest possible ethical standards in psychiatric work
  • To disseminate knowledge about evidence-based therapy and values based practice
  • To be a voice for the dignity and human rights of the patients and their families, and to uphold the rights of psychiatrists
  • To facilitate communication and assistance especially to societies who are isolated or whose members work in impoverished circumstances