A fair deal in global mental health care is the focus of the first World Mind Matters Day, which takes place today.
Organised by the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), this first annual event has been marked with the publication of two position papers.
The first, which is supported by 12 organisations across the world, addresses discrimination and social exclusion that are faced by people with mental illness, and focuses on social justice in mental healthcare, as well as ways to improve social justice for people with mental illness.
The second paper includes the findings from the WPA’s ‘Working Group on Migrant, Refugee and Asylum Seeker Mental Health Patients’, which offers guidance on how to include cultural psychiatry and psychotherapy as part of undergraduate level education. It also recommends ways to support service providers, policy makers and mental health professionals the different needs of the patients.
WPA has also called for fairness and equity in funding, resources, outcomes and research; accessibility to effective services; integration of physical and mental health; reduction in discrimination and stigma; dignity and equality for all; education of public and stakeholders; alliances and advocacy with patients and carers; and links with organisations and across specialities.
Professor Dinesh Bhugra, president of WPA, said: “We are really proud to be launching the first campaign World Mind Matters Day, aiming for equity, fairness and social justice for the mentally ill. We hope to increase the knowledge and skills necessary to work effectively in the field of mental health and improve access to and the quality of mental health care across the world.”
The WPA comprises 135 member societies from 117 countries, representing more than 200,000 psychiatrists. For more information on World Mind Matters Day, visit www.wpanet.org/WMMD.
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