WPA Review Q3 2022

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the third edition of our World Psychiatric Association's (WPA) eNewsletter – WPA Review in 2022. Despite the many global ongoing difficulties at the moment (Ukraine war, ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic, cost of living crisis, etc.), WPA remained committed to its cause and has globally supported mental health topics around the world. Most notably of which was our long-awaited 22nd World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP) that took place in Bangkok in early August.

This was our first in-person Congress in two years, and in collaboration with the Psychiatric Association of Thailand (supported by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Thailand & Department of Mental Health, Thailand) and the Organising and Scientific Committees, we welcomed more than 2370 registered participants from 100 different countries. All participants were able to enjoy a diverse programme of content with 209 sessions, 600 speakers and 980 ePosters all focused on this year's theme "Psychiatry 2022: The need for empathy and action".

Furthermore, for the first time, we were also happy to be able to present Travel awards to one trainee psychiatrist and two medical students, enabling them to join us in Bangkok and benefit from the in-person learning and networking opportunities, and we were also pleased to award 25 fellowships to young psychiatrists from 17 countries to help support them in their careers and research work.

We are now already working hard with the preparations of our 23rd WCP which will take place in Vienna, Austria from the 28th September 2023 to the 1st October 2023. More information can be found here. There are also several more Regional Thematic and Co-Sponsored Congresses planned for 2022 and early 2023, so please do regularly check the WPA website meeting programme for further information.

Outside of the Congress, there has also been many things taking place. Firstly, I would start by paying tribute to my close colleague and dear friend, Professor Petr V. Morozov following his sudden and unexpected passing last month. As WPA’s General Secretary, it came as a great shock and huge sadness to me, his family, friends, colleagues and members of the psychiatric fraternity, all over the world. During this difficult time, we offer our sincere condolences not only to his colleagues, but especially to his family and friends for whom we recognise this great loss.

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.

Online activities continue to be an important focus for us with a list of ongoing and completed projects, such as:

We continue to use our website and social channels to communicate and promote our activities, resources and work
WPA Scientific Sections have been updating their web pages to ensure their Section's information is up-to-date and engaging. You can view the pages here.
We have been and continue to work hard with WPA Scientific Sections, Collaborating Centres, Zonal Representatives and third-party associations to produce a number of free and paid online educational activities for 2022. These included the latest edition of the "ICD-11 course", a series of webinars on "Schizophrenia" and "Up-date on Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Lewy Body Dementia", to name just a few. Please do regularly visit this page for any details of upcoming courses.
The WPA Educational Portal team have added a number or new modules to the platform. Read their submission below to see the full list of latest additions or visit the Portal itself to view the wealth of resources that are available to you.
We have been regularly releasing a new interviews from our "Meet the Leaders" series on our website and social channels. Subscribe to our news page and YouTube channel to make sure you do not miss them as we publish them.

As we enter the last quarter of 2022, even though it can be difficult to remain optimistic at the moment, I am comforted by the ongoing commitment and hard work of WPA and its members and am convinced there will be better times ahead. Once again, thank you all for your ongoing support.

Best wishes,
Afzal

Prof. Afzal Javed
WPA President

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