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MENTAL HEALTH BULLETIN
November-December 2018 Vol. 13 No. 6
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Inter-agency workshop on treatment standards for problem drug users in the Americas
 Washington D.C., 21-22 October. - Reducing the impact on health related to the use of psychoactive substances depends, in part, on the availability of comprehensive care services, framed in a regional and national strategy that supports the establishment of services at different health care levels, with quality evidence-based programs.
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Panama - Development of a local comprehensive health care model for the problematic use of drugs
 Panama City, 22-23 October. - A two-day workshop was organized with the purpose of following up on the substance use cooperation program that PAHO/WHO is carrying out with the Mental Health Program of the Ministry of Public Health and the National Commission for the Study and Prevention of Drugs (CONAPRED, for its acronym in Spanish). Representatives of the Integrated Health Network and the Mental Health Program of the Ministry of Health, Panama’s Social Security Fund, the Mental Health Institute (INSAM, for its acronym in Spanish) and various private institutions, especially from CREA Homes and other non-governmental organizations that deliver treatment to problematic substance users participated in the workshop.
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Belize - Training of PHC providers in the use of mhGAP
 Belize, October 29. - For decades, the psychiatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) have been the cornerstone of the mental health program in Belize. These nurses are now integrated into primary health care (PHC) services as part of a broader effort to integrate mental health care into the various levels of service delivery.
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Bolivia - Treatment for problematic substance use in South American comprehensive health networks
 Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 29-31 October. - According to recent United Nations estimates, only one in 11 people with substance use disorders have access to adequate treatment in Latin America and the Caribbean. The little connection that exists between specialized substance dependence treatment services and the rest of the health network, particularly with the primary level, stands out among the barriers to access.
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Trinidad and Tobago - Regional mental health surveillance in the Caribbean
 Port of Spain, 13-14 November. - A two-day workshop was held in Trinidad with the aim of agreeing upon a compendium of basic mental health indicators viable for countries in the Caribbean. Mental Health representatives from Anguilla, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands were present. PAHO´s Regional Office was represented by Claudina Cayetano, Regional Advisor on Mental Health, Jorge Rodriguez, PAHO consultant and former Chief of the Mental Health and Substance Use Unit, and Amy Tausch, mental health consultant. Ian Walker, global mental health consultant at the British state agency Public Health England, also participated.
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Peru - Training for health professionals specialized in mental health
 Lima, 26-27 November. - The training of trainers in the World Health Organization (WHO) mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) was carried out with the purpose of strengthening primary mental health care capacities at a regional level and preparing mental health specialized professionals of Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela to replicate this training with non-specialized professionals and offer the necessary support in their countries.
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Working group on alcohol indicators
 Following the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on alcohol policy, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) began to work on the development of a tool to facilitate the calculation of per capita alcohol consumption in each country, one of the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and to elaborate a document proposing minimum standardized questions, for adult population surveys, on alcohol use, associated damages and perceptions regarding public control policies.
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Mexico - Second meeting of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on alcohol policy
 Mexico City, 5-6 December. – The TAG’s second meeting was organized with the objective of discussing the progress made in the completion of the first meeting's recommendations, the new regional data on alcohol consumption, the burden of disease, and the implementation of cost-effective public policies, as well as to offer new recommendations for PAHO/WHO's work in 2019.
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Guatemala - Community dialogues on alcohol with indigenous populations
 Doctors Maristela Monteiro and Tomo Kanda, from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), organized three meetings to discuss the problem of alcohol consumption in the indigenous communities of Nebaj, Cotzal and Saquil, Quiché Region, Guatemala.
About 20-25 people participated in each community, including mayors, vice wardens, representatives of women's leadership groups, midwives, health educators, police representatives, young men, pregnant women, municipal court, comprehensive rural development, social workers and nurses.
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PUBLICATIONS - COURSES – CONFERENCES
Alcohol policy scoring regional report
A new PAHO/WHO regional report has analyzed Member States’ responses to the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) survey on alcohol and health, focusing on all ten alcohol policy areas of WHO’s Global strategy to reduce harmful use of alcohol. The report includes country by country analysis and a regional perspective on how the global strategy is being implemented since its adoption in 2010. Challenges remain in most areas of policy action, including the policies considered the most cost effective (“best buys”).
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Launch of new publications on Mental Health
 Washington D.C., 6 December-The Mental Health and Substance Use Unit of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health launched of two new publications:
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