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MENTAL HEALTH BULLETIN
May- June Vol. 14 No. 3
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Suriname - Anti-stigma workshop for healthcare providers
 Paramaribo, 27-29 November 2018. Over the course of 3 days, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) held the first stigma reduction workshop in the Caribbean, in collaboration with the Mental Health Commission Canada (MHCC).
The workshop´s objectives were to understand stigma, its impact and how to combat it; to examine one’s own attitudes, beliefs and behaviors towards persons with mental health problems and to healthcare delivery structures; to enhance the understanding that, from a healthcare provider’s perspective, “one can make a difference”; to recognize that mental illnesses and addictions touch everyone; and to understand how an organized approach moves from screening, to interview, to a care plan, and to self-management skills, not only towards providing medication.
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Guatemala – First meeting of the Central America and the Dominican Republic Mental Health and Substance Use Technical Group
Guatemala City, 7-8 March. - The Central American Integration System’s Mental Health and Substance Use Technical Group (GTSM, for its acronym in Spanish) held its first meeting in March. It was attended by the heads of the national mental health programs and social security funds of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. Technicians from the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America (SE-COMISCA, for its acronym in Spanish), consultants from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and an observer from the University of Tulane also participated in the meeting. The workshop was organized and coordinated by PAHO/WHO and SE-COMISCA.
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Panama - Central American and Caribbean Psychiatry Conference
 Panama City, April 10-12. - The Central American and Caribbean Association of Psychiatry (ACCAP, for its acronym in Spanish) together with the Panamanian Psychiatric Society organized the Central American and Caribbean Psychiatry Conference in April.
ACCAP’s General Assembly was also held within the framework of the event. The psychiatric associations of Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic attended this gathering, and Dr. Edgar Agames, President of ACCAP, invited Dr. Carmen Martínez, PAHO/WHO Mental Health and Substance Use Advisor for Central America and the Hispanic Caribbean, to participate. They exchanged ideas about the situation of mental health in the Region, as well as the factors that determine the mental health care treatment gap. Future collaboration plans between PAHO/WHO and ACCAP were also addressed.
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Antigua and Barbuda - Psychological First Aid training for shelter managers
 St John’s, April 14-18. - Two years after Hurricane Irma, the island of Barbuda is still on the long journey to recovery. People were severely impacted, and the need of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is still evident. With support from PAHO/WHO, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is developing a mental health plan of action for its implementation before, during and after disasters.
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Dominican Republic - PAHO cooperates with the development of a National Mental Health Plan
 Santo Domingo, April 16.- In the Dominican Republic, as in the rest of the world, mental disorders have a high prevalence and contribute significantly to morbidity, disability, injuries and premature mortality, in addition to increasing the risk of suffering other health conditions. On the other hand, the amount of people with mental health problems that do not have access to treatment is very high.
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Peru - Strengthening mental health surveillance in South America
 Lima, April 23-24. - The event was organized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) to discuss a compendium of basic mental health indicators feasible to implement in South American countries.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Andrea Bruni, PAHO/WHO Mental Health Regional Advisor, and was attended by representatives of the ministries of health of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
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Trinidad and Tobago - Safe messaging for suicide prevention workshop
 Port of Spain, May 1. - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) hosted a one-day safe messaging workshop for suicide prevention to review a draft toolkit on safe messaging that a PAHO working group adapted from a Canadian toolkit (original version).
Participants included qualified professionals that work in suicide prevention from the following countries: Australia, Belize, Ireland, Jamaica, Nicaragua, and Trinidad and Tobago. Also in attendance were Dr. Aiysha Malik from WHO, Ms. Matulika Chawla from the Public Health Agency, and doctors Claudina Cayetano and Taraleen Malcolm, together with Ms. Amy Tausch, from PAHO/WHO.
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Panama - Intersectoral refresher workshop on comprehensive care for users of psychoactive substances
 Panama City, 9-10 May. - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is providing technical cooperation to Panama’s Ministry of Health (MINSA), the Social Security Fund (CSS) and the National Commission for the Prevention and Study of Drug-related Crimes (CONAPRED), for developing an integrated service network aimed at early detection, guidance and management of people with substance use disorders, based on primary care, and with the participation of non-governmental organizations working in the area.
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British Virgin Islands - Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP HIG) training
 Road Town, 14-17 May. - The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) with financing from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and technical support from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is working to develop the disaster recovery capacity of its population and improve the health sector response. As part of that process, it seeks to utilize the mhGAP Humanitarian Intervention Guide (mhGAP-HIG) to expand the coverage of mental health services.
Towards that end, the Ministry of Health coordinated a training in the use of the guide that was co-facilitated by Dr. Claudina Cayetano, PAHO/WHO Regional Mental Health Advisor, and Dr. Lena Verdeli of University of Columbia.
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PAHO/WHO - Webinar on promoting alcohol related laws among legislators
 Washington D.C., May 15.- The Pan American Health Organization held a webinar, "Regional work on promoting alcohol related laws among legislators," which was presented by Dr. Ignacio Ibarra, Regional Legal Advisor on Health-Related Law at PAHO/WHO.
In his presentation, Dr. Ignacio Ibarra described PAHO´s efforts to inform and support legislators across the Americas on alcohol related policies, international public health commitments, national legislative experiences and legal best practices.
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Guyana - Treatment gap analysis
Georgetown, May 14-16. - The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD/OAS) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) carried out a joint mission in Georgetown to assess the capacity to provide treatment and rehabilitation services to people with substance use disorders that have committed minor offenses. Specifically, the purpose of the mission was to assess the suitability and capacity of the treatment system to respond to the needs of the Drug Treatment Court Program through partnerships and referral sources. The gap analysis had two components: meetings with key stakeholders and site visits to four facilities.
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Panama - Training of trainers in the use of WHO "QualityRights" instrument
 Panama City, June 11-13. - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), in collaboration with the CBM organization, coordinated a training workshop in the use of the World Health Organization (WHO) "QualityRights" instrument, directed to a group of mental health services’ professionals and users from Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. WHO QualityRights aims to improve access to quality mental health care and social services and promote the rights of people with mental health conditions or/and psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
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WHO - Mental health activities during the World Health Assembly (WHA-72)
 Geneva, 20-28 May. – A global mental health campaign entitled Speak Your Mind was launched at a Sunday reception prior to the start of the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. At the Walk the Talk event, hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) that same day, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, Ms. Cynthia Germanotta, President of the Born this Way Foundation, and different mental health campaigners, spoke powerfully about the need to improve mental health in their countries and around the world.
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PAHO/WHO - Participation in global meetings on disability
Buenos Aires, 6-7 June; New York, June 11-13. - Two important global meetings on disability took place in Buenos Aires and New York in June. Antony Duttine, PAHO/WHO Disability and Rehabilitation Advisor, was present at both.
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Job Opportunity
The Pan American Health Organization would like to announce that the position of Unit Chief for Mental Health and Substance Use of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases is open to receive applications. For more information access this link: https://careers.who.int/careersection/ex/jobdetail.ftl?job=1903078&lang=en
Grade: P5
Contract duration: Two years, first year probationary period.
Closing Date: 15 July, 2019
Primary Location: United States-Washington, D.C.
Schedule: Full-time
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PUBLICATIONS - COURSES – CONFERENCES
9 July 2019.- Launch of the Spanish version of the Virtual Course on Suicide Prevention
 The Pan American Health Organization invites you to participate virtually in the launch of the new Virtual Course on Preventing Self-harm/Suicide: Empowering Primary Healthcare Providers. The launch will be on Tuesday, 9 July, 2019, at 11:00 AM (Washington, D.C. time). The human and economic costs of suicidal behavior to individuals, families, communities and society make suicide a serious public health problem around the world. Suicides are preventable, early detection and effective management are crucial to ensuring that people receive the care that they need.
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WHO - First Global Report on Epilepsy
 Launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) on June 20, Epilepsy: a public health imperative is the first global report on epilepsy summarizing the available evidence on the burden of epilepsy and the public health response required at global, regional and national levels. This report is a call for sustained and coordinated action to ensure that every person with epilepsy has access to the care and treatment they need, and the opportunity to live free from stigma and discrimination in all parts of the world.
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Links
•www.paho.org/disasters
•website-dedicated-to-youth-mental-health
Social Media
•www.facebook.com/PAHOdisasters
•www.twitter.com/PAHOdisasters
Credits
Editorial Committee: Maristela Monteiro, Claudina Cayetano, Luis Alfonzo, Antony Duttiene, Andrea Bruni, Carmen Martínez, Amy Tausch, María Florencia Di Masi y Martha Koev.
PAHO’s Mental Health Bulletin is published bimonthly in English and Spanish.
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