WFMH- WPA: Asia Pacific Seminar

"Health Innovations: Integrating Primary Care, Mental Health, and Public Health"

June 3, 2024

An Asia Pacific Seminar on "Health Innovations: Integrating Primary Care, Mental Health, and Public Health" with special focus on South Asia was organised jointly by the World Federation for Mental Health(Asia Pacific), WPA Section on Psychiatry, Law and Ethics, World Association for Dynamic Psychiatry and the National Alliance for Mental Health- India at the Pushpagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvalla, India on 29 May, 2024.

The keynote address was delivered by Roy A Kallivayalil, Vice President WFMH (Asia Pacific) and Chair of the WPA PLE Section. (Photo attached). He said, the Asia Pacific Region has nearly two billion population and one fourth of humanity lives here but public and mental health services are wholly inadequate. Primary care is heavily overburdened and often neglected. The investment in mental health is less than 2% of the health budget. Mental health and public health should be integrated in primary care. There should be much higher investment in mental health and public health and these should be our priority in the coming decades.

Dr Joice Geo (Professor of Psychiatry) presided. Dr Neethu Cherian, Vijayalal Vijayan, Dr Liza Varughese, Dr Derrick Johnson, Dr Soumya P Thomas and Dr Anu P Abraham also spoke. There was a large attendance and active deliberations.