|
Q1 2022
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the first edition of our World Psychiatric Association's (WPA) eNewsletter – WPA Review in 2022. I wish I could start this quarter’s newsletter on a more positive note, but as we are all aware, the situation in Ukraine is incredibly distressing. The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) has very clearly expressed our profound concern and support for the people of Ukraine and for our dear colleagues in the WPA Ukrainian psychiatric associations. Like most of the people of the world, as the conflict continues to escalate, we are deeply worried about the wellbeing of Ukrainians during this conflict, and the consequences of war.
Reflecting WPA’s long opposition to non-defensive military activities and being mindful of the recent statements of various health and welfare organisations as well as the vote of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) condemning the invasion of Ukraine, WPA Executive Committee issued a statement that can be read in full here.
In addition, and following our recent Advisory Committee for Responses to Emergencies (ACRE) meeting, WPA is moving forward with the following support programme:
- We have established a sub-committee to plan and implement a support programme for our Ukrainian membership and other neighbouring countries to help during this crisis. This sub-committee is chaired by Prof. Danuta Wasserman (WPA President Elect) who has established collaboration with other professional organisations and neighbouring country member societies for preparing further humanitarian activities. This has included:
- Calling for donations in order to supply medications in Ukraine. This can be done either by using the “Donate Now” button or via a bank transfer. All information can be viewed here. WPA has donated an initial $2000 for this cause.
- Establishing a trauma resource centre on the WPA website. We are currently collecting resources from our member societies and WPA Scientific Sections and will be live very soon.
- We are liaising with our member associations to provide a joint statement condemning the continuation of conflict, calling for the war to stop and collaborating on various support programmes for mental health professionals and patients in Ukraine and neighbouring countries who are receiving refugees and migrants.
- We are continually speaking with our colleagues at the WPA Ukrainian psychiatric associations to emphasise our commitment to explore all means of support and communicate our plans.
- We will continue to hold regular meetings to regularly review the current situation.
WPA and its members stand ready to support those impacted in the months ahead and we should work together to ensure that we provide the mental health resources to address this traumatic situation for all who need them. I am constantly impressed by what our members accomplish through their collaborations, adaptability and resilience during these critical situations.
Our day-to-day work continues and WPA has also been busy this past quarter with a number of projects. Our Action Plan 2020-2023 Working Groups have continued to meet and work together to fulfil their terms of reference. I am pleased to see the progress they have been making and the activities they have and are organising. Based on the Action Plan priorities, we completed a number of initiatives this quarter including the successful launch of the WPA – Lancet commission on Depression in February. If you missed the launch webinar, you can view it here.
Our meetings programme is also active and I am pleased with all the work that is going into our 22nd World Congress of Psychiatry in Bangkok from the 3rd – 6th of August 2022. Together with the Psychiatric Association of Thailand and supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Thailand & Department of Mental Health, Thailand, we are excited to have an in-person congress again and are looking forward to seeing everyone again. There are also several Thematic congresses planned for 2022, so please do regularly check the WPA website meeting programme for further information.
Motivated by our successful online activities in 2021, we continue to focus a lot of energy in this area. These include:
- We have been using our website and social channels a lot more extensively to communicate and promote our activities, resources and work
- We are working hard with WPA Collaborating Centres, Zonal Representatives and third-party associations to produce a number of free and paid online educational activities for 2022. These will include the next edition of the new ICD-11 course, Advances in Pharmacological Treatment, Up-date on Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Lewy Body Dementia and Schizophrenia, to name just a few. Please do regularly visit this page for any details of upcoming courses.
- The WPA Educational Portal team continue to add fresh content and new learning modules to the platform. I encourage you to take a look at the wealth of resources that are available to you – click here.
- We are also close to finalising our “Meet the Leaders” film project where we have been interviewing the members of the Executive Committee as well as past WPA Presidents. Subscribe to our news page and YouTube channel to make sure you do not miss them as we publish them.
As we enter the second quarter of 2022, I hope that our efforts exemplified by the above are able to motivate and inspire you during the difficult times we are currently experiencing. As always, I am very proud of WPA and its members. Together with all of you, we will work together to support those in need. Thank you all for the ongoing support.
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.
|
|
|
WPA's statement opposing the war in Ukraine and call for donations to supply medications for mentally ill patients in Ukraine
Reflecting WPA’s long opposition to non-defensive military activities and being mindful of the recent statements of various health and welfare organisations as well as the vote of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) condemning the invasion of Ukraine, WPA Executive Committee issued a statement that can be read in full here.
WPA condemns the conflict and war in the region, our membership can do more in terms of overcoming the adverse impacts of war for those who are already suffering from mental health problems and specifically psychiatric patients. Critically, medications are in short supply in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and other non-medical programmes.
Therefore, the WPA has decided to collect donations in order to supply medications in Ukraine. This can be done either by using our "Donate Now" button or through a bank transfer. Please click here to view our bank details and "Donate Now" button.
|
|
|
|
Update on the 2020-2023 Action Plan
|
|
Working Group members from the Working Group on Autism Spectrum Disorder highlight how their current chair, Prof. Marco Bertelli was awarded the prestigious Leon Eisenberg Award 2021. Read more here.
|
|
|
Working Group members provide an update on the Working Group on Volunteering and the new training opportunities available as WPA Volunteering Platform opens digitalisation in mental health care. Read more here.
|
|
|
The WPA Collaborating Centre in Cape Town recently collaborated with the University of Cape Town's Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health and AfCNP to hold a "Lunchtime Lecture" on "Public mental health". You can view the lecture here. This lecture and others from the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health can be found here.
|
|
|
WPA launched an innovative mental health project, “Partners in Care, Leveraging Community in recovery from serious mental illness” in 2021. They had their successful launch event on the 3rd of March 2022 with their first webinar and the second one is planned for the 14th April. Read more here.
|
|
|
Reminders from the Secretariat's Office
Please note the Secretariat's Office is closed over the Easter break between the 15th and 18th April 2022.
We would also like to ask the member societies to ensure we have the their latest contact information. Please email us here if there any changes to your details.
Thank you in advance,
Your Secretariat Team
|
|
|
|
We look forward to meeting with you at the next WCP
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Components
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Executive Committee
|
|
Professor Edmond H. Pi, M.D., WPA's Secretary for Scientific Meetings, provides an update. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Zonal Representatives
|
|
Prof. Santiago A. Levin, our Zone 5 Representative gives an update regarding the activities from their Zone as well as the recent WPA Thematic Congress that took place in Cartagena in February. Read more here.
|
|
|
Representative from Zone 16, highlights the finding of a recent report "Late-life Depression among Countries in Zone 16". Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Member Societies
|
|
The American Psychiatric Association provides a report on their recent activities and their Annual Meeting, 21-25 May, in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (21-25th May 2022). Read more here.
|
|
|
The Bangladesh Association of Psychiatrists tells us about their upcoming 11th International Conference on Psychiatry and 13th SAARC International Psychiatry Conference, Chattogram, Bangladesh, 29-30 September 2022. Read more here.
|
|
|
The Brazilian Psychiatric Association talks about a recent article “Stigma toward individuals with mental disorders among Brazilian psychiatrists: a latent class analysis” that was published in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
The Canadian Psychiatric Association provide an update on their recent activities. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
The Indian Psychiatric Society & SAARC Psychiatric Federation highlight their 12th International Congress of SAARC Psychiatric Federation Plenary Symposium – Stigma and Mental Illness that took place in October last year in Kolkata, India. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
The Iranian Psychiatric Association talk about their 38th Annual Congress of the Iranian Psychiatric Association on the role of psychiatrists in the COVID-19 pandemic in collaboration with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Read more here.
|
|
|
The Kenya Psychiatric Association petitions high court on attempted suicide. Read more about it here.
|
|
|
|
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists give an update on their recently published new practice guidance for working with families and carers in mental health settings. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Dr John Mitchell, top psychiatrist and Chief Executive of Royal College of Psychiatrists named in New Year Honours. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Members from the Slovak Psychiatric Association provide an update of their pro-reform implementation. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Update from a Potential New Member Society – Bhutan Psychiatric Association - "Building Mental Health Work Force at the Primary Health Care – The Bhutan Case Study". Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Affiliated Associations
|
|
The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis announce their "Approaches to Psychosis (ISPS)" - 22nd International Congress of the ISPS in Perugia!. Read more here.
|
|
|
|
Updates from WPA Scientific Sections
|
|
The WPA Section of Old Age Psychiatry gives an update on the various ways in which they are contributing to the human rights of older people with mental health conditions. Read more here.
|
|
|
The WPA Section for Public Policy and Psychiatry is in the process of redefining their work and future mission and would like to invite WPA members to take join the section and contribute to their work. Read more here.
|
|
|
Member of the WPA Section Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry provide an update on their work. Read more here.
|
|
|
The WPA Section on Rural Mental Health talk about their recent "Leadership Training Programme of Skilling Professionals in Assessing, Detecting and Managing Mental Disorders". Read more here.
|
|
|
Dr Pia Brous provides an update from the WPA Section on Art Psychiatry. Read more here.
|
|
|
Riadh Abed provides an update on the WPA Section on Evolutionary Psychiatry post-pandemic plans and activities. Read more here.
|
|
|
We were happy to receive four recommended readings from valued members. These include:
|
|
|
Advances in Pharmacological Treatment - Monday 25th April 2022, Time: 14:00 (CEST) Read more here.
|
|
|
Partners in Care, Leveraging Community in recovery from serious mental illness - 14th - 28th April 2022 (Three Weekly Sessions). Read more here.
|
|
|
Up-date on Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Lewy Body Dementia - Wednesday 4th May 2022, Time: 14:00 (CEST) Read more here.
|
|
|
Schizophrenia - Monday 16th May 2022, Time: 14:00 (CEST). Read more here.
|
|
|
ICD-11 Diagnostic Requirements for Mental, Behavioural or Neurodevelopmental Disorders: An Online Comprehensive Course - 9 May - 30 May 2022 (four weekly sessions. Read more here.
|
|
|
We are delighted to announce the publication of the Global launch of the Lancet-World Psychiatric Association Commission: time for united action on depression. Read the full story here.
|
|
|
We are delighted to announce that the first Middle East Undergraduate and Graduate Psychiatry Training conference will be held in Doha, Qatar at the end of September this year. This event is organised by Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, World Psychiatric Association, Innovations in Global Health Professions Education, and Sidra Medicine. Read more about it here.
|
|
|
Together with our valued member society, the Psychiatric Association of Thailand, and supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Thailand & Department of Mental Health, Thailand, WPA looks forward to welcoming you to the 22nd WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Bangkok, Thailand, 3-6 August 2022. Learn more about the upcoming World Congress and register here.
|
|
|
|
|
