WPA ACRE Sub-Committee on Humanitarian Actions in Ukraine, chaired by
Prof. Danuta Wasserman, launch an educational trauma resource centre and call for Donations
In response to the war, and due to the grave concerns about the wellbeing of the Ukrainian people, particularly psychiatric patients and psychiatric staff, the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Advisory Committee on Response to Emergencies (ACRE) set up a sub-committee, chaired by Prof. Danuta Wasserman (WPA President Elect), to plan and implement support in collaboration with the Ukrainian and other Member Associations.
As psychiatrists and mental health professionals, we know it is not only the physical effects of the war in Ukraine that are detrimental for the Ukrainian society, but also the mental health effects. As well as supporting people with mental ill health, supporting everybody’s mental health is key. Therefore, one of the main goals of this sub‑committee was to establish an online trauma resource centre.
This is to provide one central point for a number of trusted sources and resources in Ukrainian, Russian and other languages to help us support and guide our response to the mental health challenges people from Ukraine are currently facing. Prof. Danuta Wasserman has established collaborations with a number of professional organisations (e.g., the EPA, ECNP and MHFA (through the German Psychiatric Association)) and other sources to bring together relevant self-help materials to support those in need. Extensive collaboration is also in progress with the Board of the Council of 44 National Psychiatric Associations at the EPA and WPA Scientific Sections. The educational trauma resource centre can be viewed here.
This page will be updated as we receive more and new information. Therefore, we encourage you to bookmark this page and check back regularly. If you would like to contribute any relevant resources developed by your own organisation, please contact Prof. Danuta Wasserman or Prof. Roger Ng (WPA Secretary, Education).
There are other main goal of this ACRE sub-committee is to offer economical support through donations from WPA Member Societies in order to buy and deliver psychiatric medications to psychiatric patients in Ukraine and persons with acute mental health needs. If you would like to make a donation and help us provide the necessary medications for severely distressed psychiatric patients who desperately need daily life saving medicines, please view our donations page here.
The ACRE sub-committee hopes that through these activities, the help for those that so desperately need and deserve it will be delivered.
Author: Prof. Danuta Wasserman and Prof. Roger Ng