2008 - 1st International Meeting
2008 – 1st International Meeting
STRENGTHENING THE MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEMS IN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES
Rimini, 15–18 April - Hotel Continental
The 1st International Meeting was attended by participants from 15 low and middle income countries: Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burundi, China, Egypt, Ghana, Jamaica, Moldova, Mongolia, Thailand, Tunisa, Uganda, West Bank and Ghaza.
On 15 April the President of Cittadinanza Maurizio Focchi opened the 1st International Meeting (present-focchi-pc.pdf), followed by the local authorities’ welcome speeches: Rimini’s Mayor Alberto Ravaglioli and Angelo Fioritti representing the Regione Emilia Romagna (present-fioritti.pdf).
Then, Benedetto Saraceno, Director of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, got to the heart of the Meeting with the comprehensive address “Investing in Mental Health” (present-saraceno-long.pdf).
He was followed by WHO representatives Shekhar Saxena and Jodi Morris, with the presentation “WHO-AIMS and Preliminary Findings from 42 Countries” (present-who-ss-jm.pdf), and by Anita Marini, Scientific Director of Cittadinanza, presenting the rationale and the objective of the meeting (present-anita.pdf).
During the 4 days-meeting, countries representatives presented their project proposals to strengthen the mental health systems of their countries, based on WHO-AIMS results.
Project proposals were reviewed by peers from other countries, international mental health experts, mental health professionals, and NGO representatives.
Five NGOs, involved in mental health and international cooperation, presented their activities: AIFO (aifo.pdf), BasicNeeds (basicneeds.ppt), CUAMM (cuamm.pdf), GRT (grt.pdf), Healthnet TPO (healthnet-tpo.pdf).
