World Mental Health Day 2005 Focuses on Life Span

Washington, D.C., October 6, 2005 (PAHO)—Several world leaders in the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses and behavioral disorders will take part in a symposium at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington, D.C., October 11th, in observance of World Mental Health Day 2005.

According to PAHO estimates, some 114 million people in the Americas suffered some type of mental disorder in 1990, and that figure is projected to increase to 176 million by the year 2010.

The symposium on "Mental and Physical Health across the Life Span" will feature PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses and an international panel of mental health experts. Dr. Benedetto Saraceno, director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the World Health Organization (WHO), will deliver the keynote address. Dr. Jose Miguel Caldas de Almeida, chief of the Mental Health and Specialized Programs Unit and Dr. Jose Luis Di Fabio, area manager for Technologies and Health Services at PAHO, will take part, along with the deputy clinical director for the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program, Dr. Maryland Pao, who will provide an overview of "Mental Health and Physical Health: Infants, Children and Adolescents." Dr. Thomas Wise, INOVA Systems Medical Director of Behavioral Services in the United States, will speak on "Mental and Physical Health: Young Adults, Adults and Old Age".

World Mental Health Day was established in 1992 by the World Federation of Mental Health (WFMH) and is the only annual worldwide global public awareness and education campaign to promote public understanding of mental health and mental and behavioral disorders. The Secretary General and CEO of WFMH, Dr. Preston J. Garrison, will recognize all World Mental Health Day sponsors and supporters.

The 2005 World Mental Health Day Campaign builds on the 2004 theme of the links between physical and mental health, including co-occurring mental disorders and diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS and the mind/body connection.

Dr. Di Fabio said, "For many years now PAHO has been collaborating with the World Federation for Mental Health in the celebration of World Mental Health Day with events organized in a number of countries in the Americas. Mental health is a priority for the Organization, which is assisting its Member Countries to integrate it with primary care, as this is the best way to achieve integral attention to mental and physical problems that are so frequently associated."

In 1998, mental disorders represented 11.5 percent of the burden of disease worldwide. In the region of the Americas, mental health poses major challenges to public health.

PAHO estimates that 25 percent of the adult population in the region suffers from a mental disorder sometime in their lifetime. The few available studies on children show that the approximate prevalence of mental disorders in children ranges from 21 percent in the United States to 12-29 percent in developing countries such as Colombia. It is estimated that more than 5 million people of all ages suffer from epilepsy in the Region, yet only 1.5 million of them are identified and properly treated.

PAHO was established in 1902 and is the world's oldest public health organization. It works with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and the quality of life of the people of the Americas. It serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). PAHO Member States today include all 35 countries in the Americas. France, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland are Participating States. Portugal and Spain are Observer States, and Puerto Rico is an Associate Member.

Links and documents of interest:

• Mental Health/Depression World Health Organization
• Mental Health/Schizophrenia WHO
• Mental Health/Suicide WHO 2004