MENTAL HEALTH BULLETIN

El Salvador - Workshop on strengthening mental health surveillance

A workshop on strengthening mental health surveillance in the Subregion of Central America and the Dominican Republic was held June 14-16 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Participants included colleagues from PAHO’s Headquarters and country offices in Nicaragua and El Salvador, as well as representatives from six countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. 
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Webinar: "Mental health in emergencies: The experience after the earthquake in Ecuador"

After the recent earthquake, mental health issues and psychosocial care emerged once again as a necessity for Ecuador, for residents of the affected area, and for response teams themselves.

On Friday June 10, PAHO/WHO Mental Health and Substance Use Unit and the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief Department conducted a virtual seminar on "Mental health in emergencies: The experience after the earthquake in Ecuador". The seminar was addressed to PAHO's Emergency Response Team. Presentations were in charge of the Regional Advisor on Mental Health, Dr. Claudina Cayetano, and PAHO Consultant, Dr. Hugo Cohen.
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Experts discuss problem drinking in Peru

Lima, June 22. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Peru convened representatives from the public sector, academia and the civil society to form a working group to advocate for policies aimed at the prevention, treatment and control of alcohol consumption.

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Infographic: Health impacts of women´s alcohol consumption
  

This infographic shows the specific ways in which women's health is impacted by their consumption of alcohol, including an increased risk of cancer, injury, and pregnancy complications. In contrast to persistent myths surrounding alcohol's health benefits, many of these conditions are associated with small quantities of alcohol. Women in general tend to suffer more health problems than men at lower levels of consumption, in part due to biological factors. In the Americas, women are drinking more and more often and present the highest estimated prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the world. 
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New "Ask the Policy Expert" webinar on strengthening information systems and research

Each "Ask the expert" webinar in the Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN) series focuses on country level implementation of one of WHO’s mental health action plan 2013-2020 objectives. The aim of this series is to learn more about the approaches used by policy makers to implement mental health programs and how policy makers are aiming to achieve the action plan targets.
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Webinar: Challenges of public health policies in addressing the world drug problem

Washington D.C., July 1.- In observance of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 26), the Pan American Health Organization Mental Health and Substance Use Unit organized a virtual seminar focused on the public health approach to the use of psychoactive substances. Its objective was to inform and discuss the progress observed at the global and regional levels regarding the World Drug Problem within the context of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session, UNGASS 2016, held in New York, 19-21 April.
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Guyana mhGAP training workshop: Integrating mental health into primary care 

Guyana, August 9-12. - As part of the integration of mental health into primary care, the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization, conducted a four day training of trainers workshop focused on WHO’s Mental Health GAP Action Programme (mhGAP). 
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Meeting of the Working Group on drug policies and public health

Washington D.C, August 17-18. - This meeting was organized in the context of the joint program between the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD/OAS) to support CICAD's Demand Reduction Expert Group’s project for "the development of guiding instruments to implement drug demand reduction policies with a public health perspective." PAHO presented a methodological proposal for discussion and analysis, which included the development, implementation and evaluation of public health policies for addressing the use of psychoactive substances. 
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Dominican Republic - New psychosocial rehabilitation center in Santo Domingo

In August, as part of the Health Sector Reform Plan, the Dominican Ministry of Public Health, presented the newly renovated and fully equipped Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center.

The ceremony was led by the Minister of Health, Dr. Altagracia Guzmán Marcelino; by Dr. Ángel Almánzar, the Ministry’s Mental Health General Director; and by PAHO/WHO Representative in the country, Dra. Alma Morales Salinas, who was accompanied by PAHO/WHO Mental Health Unit Chief, Dr. Dévora Kestel.
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PUBLICATIONS - COURSES – CONFERENCES

Practice manual for establishing and maintaining surveillance systems for suicide attempts and self-harm

Improved surveillance and monitoring of suicide attempts and self-harm is a core element of suicide prevention and needed for all countries. This practice manual aims to provide a tool for countries to use in setting up a public health surveillance system for suicide attempts and self-harm cases presenting to general hospitals, based on medical records. 
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“Co-inhabiting the difference” - From psychiatric reform to collective mental health 

Today, rethinking psychiatric care reform and mental health care means rethinking health, clinical practice and psychopathology; not remaining anchored to biological psychiatry or to the biopsychosocial approach. This is not ignoring theories and tools so far achieved by psychiatry, psychology, sociology and other related disciplines. Manuel Desviat in his book proposes to give them a new meaning in the context of subject and subjectivity-based mental health; allowing the differences to “co-inhabit” and from there to reformulate care, social and clinical responses.
This publication is only in Spanish.

Lisbon international learning program on mental health policy and services

An international learning program for mental health leaders and professionals willing to develop public health skills in mental health policy and services, with a special emphasis on low- and middle-income countries will be organized during 2017 as a new and innovative development of the International Master on Mental Health Policy and Services (NOVA University of Lisbon).
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Links

• Bulletin INEBRIA Latina 
• mhGAP Newsletter 
• website-dedicated-to-youth-mental-health 

Social Media

• www.facebook.com/PAHOdisasters 
• www.twitter.com/PAHOdisasters

Credits

Editorial Committee: Dévora Kestel, Claudina Cayetano, Maristela Monteiro, Luis Alfonzo, Armando Vasquez, Andrea Bruni, Carmen Martinez, Blake Smith, Maria Florencia Di Masi and Martha Koev.

PAHO’s Mental Health Bulletin is published bimonthly in English and Spanish.

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