Addiction Psychiatry
Substance use disorder along with other addictive behaviors (such as pathological gambling and gaming disorders and problematic internet use) comprise a significant portion of mental health burden globally. The Addiction Psychiatry section of WPA is established to provide a global forum to discuss national, regional and international challenges and solutions for these disorders among psychiatrists and their colleagues in the related disciplines.
This WPA section supports global surveys, discussion panels, advocacy initiatives and development of guidelines, consensus statements, best practices and policy notes.
Members of WPA are welcome to join this section that is founded based on the collegiality values, democracy, transparency, diversity and global representativeness. Members are encouraged to actively suggest new initiatives and ideas and supported to contribute to the ongoing efforts in the WPA Addiction Psychiatry Section.
This WPA section supports global surveys, discussion panels, advocacy initiatives and development of guidelines, consensus statements, best practices and policy notes.
Members of WPA are welcome to join this section that is founded based on the collegiality values, democracy, transparency, diversity and global representativeness. Members are encouraged to actively suggest new initiatives and ideas and supported to contribute to the ongoing efforts in the WPA Addiction Psychiatry Section.
Section Officers
Chair
Professor Alexander Baldacchino (PhD, MD, MPhil, FRCPsych, FRCP, FISAM)
Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine School of Medicine, University of St Andrews
St Andrews, UK
Co-Chair
Dr Hamed Ekhtiari (MD, PhD)
Investigator, Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, USA/Iran
Co-Chair
Dr Hussien Elkholy (MBBCh, MSc, MD, FRCPsych)
Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), UK & Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University (Egypt)
Cairo, Egypt
Secretary
Dr Roshan Bhad (MD, DNB (Psychiatry), CISAM, FISAM)
Associate Professor of Psychiatry National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
New Delhi, India
Section Executive Council Members
Member
Dr Christian Schuetz
Division Head and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada
Member
Dr Sophia Achab
Head, WHO Collaborating Centre in Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine Geneva University
Geneva, Switzerland
Member
Dr Rama Kamal
Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Consultant Addiction Medicine, Director Research & Education, Naufer,
Doha, Qatar
Member
Dr. Kristiana Siste
Addiction Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia
Section member list can be found here
WPA Addiction Psychiatry Section Executive Council can be found here
Useful Documents
ISAM Textbook of Addiction Treatment: International Perspectives 2nd Edition Oxford Handbook of Addiction Medicine
(3 edition) (Saunders, John, and others (eds), Oxford Handbook of Addiction Medicine, 3 edition, Oxford Medical Handbooks (Oxford, 2024; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 June 2024))
Join the section
Addiction Psychiatry Professionals are welcomed to join the section here.
