On the 1 February 2020, the Mexican Psychiatric Association (MPA) had its first board meeting for the period 2020-2021. This meeting marked the official inauguration of the current executive committee led by President Bernardo Ng, President Elect Jacqueline Cortes, Secretary Alejandro Molina, Treasurer David Saucedo and Regional Vice-presidents Marisa Morales, Victor Lopez, Judith Gonzalez, Hugo Castellanos and Salvador Gonzalez.
During this meeting the different work committees were set in place and approved. These included Finances chaired by Enrique Gonzalez, Scientific chaired by Ingrid Vargas, Admissions and Membership chaired by Alejandro Molina, Elections chaired by Enrique Chavez, Ethics also chaired by Alejandro Molina, and Bylaws chaired by Jacqueline Cortes.
The remaining board members include past Presidents Martha Ontiveros, Raymundo Macias, Lauro Castanedo, Enrique Camarena, Jesus del Bosque, Eduardo Madrigal, Aldo Suarez, Luis Rivero, Antonio Ruiz, Fernando Lopez, Marco Lopez; and former Vice-presidents Manuel Alvear, Sherezada Pool, Alba Sarmiento, and Oscar Casados.
Among the most important plans for this period were those related to ongoing medical education activities, such as the MPA's first annual meeting: Innovating for a Psychiatry for All to be held 1 - 4 October 2020 in Acapulco. The meeting, which has been carefully planned since the middle of 2019, will be hosted at the Riviera Diamante - home to both the famous ATP and WTA 500 Mexican Open Tennis Championship. The enviable location is driving distance from Mexico City and has direct flights from cities like Houston and Cancun, further increasing its appeal throughout the Americas.
The other key plan for this period is the “DAS” campaign, which consists on a nationwide program to train primary care providers on the early detection and treatment of patients with depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. This campaign will be shared throughout every one of the 32 states of the Mexico, and will train near 3,000 physicians.
Mexico is a country with 130,000,000 people, and similar to other Latin American countries is struck by depressive, psychotic, mood, and substance use disorders, as well as suicide. The association is diligently working with its stakeholders to improve the skills of Mexican Psychiatrists, non-psychiatric physicians, and all mental health professionals in order to impact public mental health indicators.
Author: Bernardo Ng MD, President 2020-2021