International Meetings 2008-2010 STRENGTHENING MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS
3 International Meetings: an initiative to promote Mental Health in International Cooperation
Cittadinanza, in collaboration with the WHO, promotes from 2008 to 2010, three International Meetings “Strengthening Mental Health Systems in Low and Middle Income Countries”. During these meetings, representatives of 40/45 low and middle income countries, that have used the the World Health Organization ‘Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems’ (WHO-AIMS), gather in Rimini (Italy) to: (I) present and discuss their projects aimed at developing and improving their mental health services; (II) seek collaborations and support from international cooperation organizations, international agencies, NGOs, donors, social and health services and mental health professionals.
WHO-AIMS is a tool for collecting essential information on the mental health system of a country or region. Through using WHO-AIMS, countries can identify major weaknesses in their mental health systems and develop information-based plans for relevant public mental health action.
WHO-AIMS assessments have been so far initiated in over 90 countries/regions. The next phase of the project for the countries that have completed a WHO-AIMS assessment foresees the developement of a plan to improve mental health services.
The main objectives of this initiative are:
• to validate the WHO-AIMS in pariticipating countries;
• to identify strenghts and weaknesses of their nationa mental health systems;
• to boost the implementation of reform strategies and activities aimimg at improving and strenghtening their national mental health systems;
• to assess and identify the resources needed to succesfully implement reform strategies and activities;
• to learn from other countries’ experiences;
• to establish a network for the development of new cooperation projects between national mental health authorities in the WHO-AIMS countries and the different actors of the international cooperation.
• 2009 - 2nd International Meeting
• 2009 - Panellists’ Presentations
• 2009 - Country Presentations & Project Proposals
• 2008 - 1st International Meeting
• 2008 - Country Presentations & Project Proposals
