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Q2 2021
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the return of the World Psychiatric Association's (WPA) eNewsletter! We are both delighted and excited to bring you the first edition of "WPA Review" where, each quarter, we will take a look back at the great work and news from all our member societies and components.
As part of our commitment to providing you with a centralised point of communication and coordination, the eNewsletter will also offer us the opportunity to share insights and experiences as we continue to work together and address the mental health implications of COVID-19.
So without further ado, let me kick off this Review with news from myself! We have had a busy first half of the year with ongoing Action Plan 2020-2023 Working Group meetings, and I am pleased to see the progress they have been making and the activities they are organising.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect all of our lives, the WPA Advisory Committee for Responses to Emergencies (ACRE) has been working hard and acting as the coordinating body for the assessment of emergency needs and the mobilisation of resources and support through our member societies and partners. The latest ACRE report can be read here. As part of this work, we sent a letter of support to our colleagues in India as they were faced with some dreadful circumstances at the height of the pandemic. The letter can be read here.
Another important part of our Action Plan is supporting and partnering with our various member societies and other regional academic institutions on educational activities. One upcoming course in preparation is with the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Together, we are thrilled to bring mental health education to the NCD Virtual Academy and improve awareness about the role of mental health disorders in undermining physical well being. We will inform you as soon as the course is ready to launch.
Thanks to COVID-19, a lot of our meetings and congresses for the past year have had to take on a slightly different format, but this has not deterred us! We held our first ever virtual 20th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP) in March this year, which was a huge success with over 3000 participants from over 100 countries. We also enjoyed the WPA Regional Congress in St. Petersburg in May where they were able to combine a virtual and in person congress with great success. We are also looking forward to the upcoming Regional Congress this month in Kyiv as well as our 21st WCP in October this year, which will also be held virtually. We look forward to meeting you all there, whether it is on- or offline.
Finally, I would like to congratulate the team behind our new learning management platform (known as the WPA Education Portal) that launched earlier this year. It has been a huge success with more than 1000 psychiatrists registering within the first few days to access our learning materials. As of today, the Portal hosts resources spanning some 30 topics related to mental health in over 15 languages, including two "live" online courses. They are now working hard to develop the resource further and already have seven courses lined up and six modules planned in the coming months. Please do take a look at the Portal here.
I do hope you enjoy reading our new eNewsletter and we would like to thank you for all of your contributions. WPA remains committed to supporting our components through these difficult times, and we aim to be transparent and timely in all our communications. Thank you all for the ongoing support you provide us in return.
Best wishes,
Afzal
Prof. Afzal Javed
WPA President
Scroll down to read ALL the latest WPA news or use the links below to jump straight to items that interest you most. Please note that the links may not work on some mobile phone or tablet devices.
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Updates from the Executive Committee
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Update from the Secretary General
Prof. Petr V. Morozov, Secretary General and Editor of WPA's new eNewsletter, summarises the latest news from the Secretariat's office and his thoughts on the relaunch of the eNewsletter. Read the full story here.
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WPA Education Portal
Prof. Roger MK Ng (Secretary for Education) and Catherine Devine (Education Coordinator) give us an introduction to the new WPA Education Portal, its popularity since its launch and what is planned for the future. Read the full story here.
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Update from the Secretary of Scientific Meetings
Prof. Edmond H. Pi, M.D., Secretary for Scientific Meetings provides an update on the Scientific Committee here.
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Reminders from the Secretariat's Office
Please ensure a timely payment of your WPA membership fees invoice. If you have not received your invoice yet, please contact the Secretariat's Office here.
We would like to ask the member societies to ensure we have the their latest contact information. We would also like you confirm whether you give consent for us to share your contact information with other WPA components. Please contact email us here to let us know your preferences.
Thank you in advance,
Your Secretariat Team
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Update on the 2020-2023 Action Plan
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Working Group on Defining and Managing Autism Spectrum Disorder give an update on their work and activities so far this year. Read more here.
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Working Group on Working Group on Developing Partnerships with Service Users and Family Carers highlight their work so far this year. Read more here.
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As Chair, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Gaebel provides an update on the Working Group on Digitalisation in Mental Health Care. Read more here.
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The Working Groups on Dealing with Learning Disabilities has been working closely with the Section on Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability and have provided a combined update on all of their activities. Read more here.
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Read more about all the different activities the Working Groups on Medical Students have been doing here.
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The Working Group on Public Mental Health have provided an activity report here.
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And finally, the Working Group on Volunteering has summarised their activities for the year here.
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Updates from WPA Components
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Updates from WPA Zonal Representatives
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Rodrigo Nel Córdoba, our Zone 4 Representative gives an update regarding the upcoming 21st edition of the World Congress of Psychiatry which will be organised in his city of Cartagena de Indias, one of the most beautiful places in Colombia, Latin America. Read more here.
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As representative from Zone 16, Prof. Pichet Udomratn, highlights the news from the Southern Asia zone. Read more here.
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Updates from WPA Collaborating Centres
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The Collaborating Centre: Cape Town, South Africa – University of Cape Town gives us an update on their online training course on "International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision Mental Behavioural and Neurodevelopmental Disorders". Read about how you can take part here.
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The Collaborating Centre: Bangalore, India discusses how they focused on managing the COVID-19 pandemic by consolidating academic teaching and making several innovations in training. Read about how you can take part here.
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The Collaborating Centre: Doha, Qatar shares news on how The Department of Psychiatry at Sidra Medicine has established the world’s first and only Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International (ACGME-I) Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship. Read more here.
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The WPA Council, composed of past presidents of the WPA, welcomes Prof. Helen Herrman as the new member of the Council. The Council is currently preparing a panel discussion which will be presented during the 21st World Congress of Psychiatry in October 2021. The discussion will address the future of psychiatry and the roles that the WPA will play in the years to come.
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Prof. Juan E. Mezzich brings us news about the 13th Geneva Conference on Person Centred Medicine. Read more here.
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Mario Maj is delighted to share with us that the World Psychiatry Journal was recently reaffirmed as the no. 1 journal in the list of psychiatric journals and in the Social Science Citation Index. Read more here.
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Updates from WPA Member Societies
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Dr Saul Levin, the CEO of the American Psychiatric Association provides an insight into their activities so far this year. Read more here.
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Mohammad Tariqul Alam and Rubina Hossain reports on how the Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrists has been successful in highlighting the importance of mental health and spreading awareness at a national level. Read more here.
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The Canadian Psychiatric Association will welcome its new Board chair, Dr. Alison Freeland, at its Annual General Meeting this Autumn. Read more here.
They are also organising the Canadian Psychiatric Association Virtual conference which will take place on the 14th-16th of October 2021. Read more here.
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The Korean Neuropsychiatric Association successfully hosted the 19th International Congress of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists in Seoul, Korea in April. Read more here.
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The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists was delighted to host a COVID-safe Congress in May with over 880 delegates attending in Hobart, and close to 500 delegates participating virtually Read more here.
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Dr Adrian James gives an update from the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Read more here.
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The Russian Society of Psychiatrists, gives an update on:
- WPA Regional Congress held in St. Petersburg - read more here, and
- An update on the The International Centre for Education and Research in Neuropsychiatry's activities - read more here.
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Recognising the need for self-help guides during times of crisis, the Singapore Psychiatric Association spearheaded the creation of a free PDF E-book titled “Caring for our Mental Wellbeing During Covid-19”. Read more here.
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The Psychiatric Association of Turkey now has a "Gender Inequality, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Violence Policy Statement". Read more here.
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Updates from WPA Sections
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The Section Art and Psychiatry provides a summary of their activities here.
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The Section Education in Psychiatry summarises their recent activities here.
They also recently organised a virtual workshop with the motto ‘Train the Trainers’ with the support of WPA. The idea of the workshop was to learn about recent developments in psychiatry education from mental health professionals around the world. Read more here.
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The Section for Evolutionary Psychiatry recently held a half-day webinar on the “Darwin Roots of Attachment Theory”. Read more here.
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The Section HIV / AIDS Psychiatry highlights their recent work as well as the synergies between the COVID-19 pandemic and the HIV pandemic. Read more here.
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The Section Philosophy and Humanities is delighted to announce the launch of a new web-based training programme that brings together the resources of contemporary phenomenology with the philosophy and practice of values-based clinical care. Read more here.
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The Section Addiction Psychiatry co-sponsored and supported an online conference called “Let's Talk Overdose: The Hidden Pandemic and How to Stop it” on the 23rd of June 2021 and attracted over 1700 participants. Read more here.
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The Section Stigma of Mental Illness has posted an update bibliography of member publications on its WPA webpage (read more about that here); and we are delighted that our Section's Chair, Sir Graham Thornicroft, is to co-lead d Lancet Commission on stigma and discrimination in mental health (read more here).
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Section Update Reminder
If you have not already updated your Section web page, please do so immediately using this link. Sections that will not get back to the Secretariat, providing updated information, will have their website put on hold. So, please, update your website!
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We were happy to receive eight recommended readings from valued authors. These include:
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Prof. Norman Sartorius provides a comprehensive history and explains the structure of what is now known as the World Congress of Psychiatry. Read more here.
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The WPA 2020 Thematic Congress on intersectional collaboration, under the theme “Psychological Trauma: Global burden on mental and physical health”, took place between the 10th – 12th of December 2020. Organised in collaboration with the Hellenic Psychiatric Association, this was an exclusive virtual congress for 2020 and the first Thematic Congress during the 2020-23 term. Read more here.
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The 20th World Congress of Psychiatry took place on the 10th - 13th of March and was the first virtual WPA congress. It was a huge success and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Read more here.
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