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. 2020 Sep 15;19(3):404–406. doi: 10.1002/wps.20792

Report on the WPA Action Plan at the end of the triennium 2017‐2020

Helen Herrman 1
PMCID: PMC7491618  PMID: 32931121

One of the tests of an organization is its response in a crisis. As we review the current triennium, the world is experiencing turmoil and change with the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic. As governments struggle to support and stabilize the health systems and economies in countries, psychiatrists and their colleagues in the health professions face extraordinary challenges.

WPA's work over the last three years has been guided by a strategy for expanding the contribution of psychiatry to improve mental health for people across the globe 1 . We have emphasized working with women and men living in adversity, and those with long‐standing mental illnesses and psychosocial disabilities and their caregivers; and the role of psychiatry as a discipline central to medicine and health care and vital to sustainable development in each country2, 3. The emergency we now face draws on these perspectives, the work we have done, and the new face of the WPA over the past three years.

Mobilizing for the emergency response began in March 2020. We founded the Advisory Committee for Response to Emergencies (ACRE) to facilitate practical and concrete aid to Member Societies in need, as well as foster education, information collection and the development of local, national and international strategies to cope with the mental health consequences of emergencies. We established an emer‐gency assistance fund in April 2020 and in May provided funding to colleagues in Nepal for outreach services to support child and adolescent mental health. We have since, for example, provided aid in cash and in‐kind for personal protective equipment in Ukraine and other parts of the world.

Our online library of COVID‐19 mental health resources (www.wpanet.org/covid‐19‐resources) has developed rapidly, with the support of WPA Member Societies and Sections. It provides access to the resourc‐es curated by them and other trusted part‐ners, with materials in several languages. Accelerated development of the WPA education portal and learning management system has promoted the launch of new education and training modules to support the emergency response. The first of these modules supports psychiatrists in using e‐mental health tools. The portal also gives ready access to WPA's existing training materials, including the International Competency‐Based Curriculum for Mental Health Providers on Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence against Women, available in several languages 4 .

During the triennium, the WPA has work‐ed closely with people with lived ex‐peri‐ence and their families, has built gen‐der and geo‐graphic diversity in its leadership and scien‐tific face, and engaged with international or‐ganizations and policy‐mak‐ers. The Action Plan has provided a clear strategic intent that is framed by and builds on three char‐acteristics.

The first characteristic is WPA's contribution to the representation, reputation, development and knowledge of the profession. This has been achieved through several initiatives:

  • The Service User and Family Carer Advisory Group coordinated by M. Amering has contributed to WPA's response to the emergency, to its congresses, and to other challenging and important projects during the triennium3, 5.

  • We have moved successfully – in scientific, social and financial terms – to the annual convening of the World Congress of Psychiatry, supported by our professional congress organiser Kenes International. The congresses have featured diversity by gender and regions, and partnership with a range of organizations including the World Medical Association, the International Association of Women's Mental Health, the International Federation for Psychotherapy and a dozen more. WPA regional and thematic congresses in Australia, Ethiopia and North Macedonia have also been appreciated.

  • Our revamped website and program of regular communications have kept Member Societies, WPA leadership and all those interested in WPA connected and informed.

  • The new Standing Committee on Science, Education and Publications chair‐ed by N. Sartorius has made a major contribution to the integration of WPA's scientific work and its presentation at WPA Congresses.

  • The Standing Committee on Ethics and Review chaired by S. Tyano revised the proposed WPA Code of Ethics. A Task Force convened by P. Appelbaum reviewed the WPA recommendations for relationships of psychiatrists and others with the pharmaceutical industry 6 .

  • The WPA has continued its collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, including consultation on the work of the WHO Commission on Non‐Communicable Diseases, the WHO/United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) initiative on Helping Adolescents Thrive, and the EQUIP workforce development in psychological interventions.

  • The WPA has partnered with the US Car‐ter Center and the International Center for Journalists to promote mutual understanding between psychiatrists and journalists.

The second characteristic of the Action Plan framework is the development of operational, project‐based work that focuses on selected and critical mental health top‐ics at a global level:

  • A discussion paper and position statement on “Implementing alternatives to coercion in mental health care” has been developed by a Task Force chaired by S. Galderisi and J. Allan, in consultation with Member Societies and the Service User and Family Carer Advisory Group 2 . This work and three case studies linked to it – in Colombia, India and Australia‐New Zealand – are supported by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. The position paper with recommendations for action and an optional protocol are designed to support Member Societies to engage with this work in ways that suit their local circumstances 3 .

  • A report has been published on collaborative work with the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) on competencies in mental health for family doctors 7 .

  • A survey of the demography and training of psychiatrists in WPA Member Societies, led by R. Ng and set to be published in 2020, will give us a first glimpse of the age and gender patterns and the training experiences of our profession worldwide.

The third characteristic of the Action Plan is the attraction of new investment to WPA to support its work, especially through relationships with organizations that share our objectives. We have succeeded in attracting new resources from philanthropy and other sectors, as well as more tradition‐al sources, to support programs:

  • An important external investment in our work has come from citiesRISE 8 , which is in turn supported by Pivotal Ventures (a Melinda Gates company), Co‐Impact and other philanthropic and development funders. We have worked in Nairobi, Chennai and Bogota with our Member Societies and their branches9, 10. This work locally and across cities has contributed in several ways to promoting the mental health of disadvantaged young people: by promoting mental health in schools; revising training and in‐service curricula for psychiatrists and other mental health workers; and preparing the ground for implementing programs of perinatal care in scarce resource countries.

  • Support for the Lancet‐WPA Commission on Depression 11 has come from several external sources, including the University of Melbourne, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Wellcome Trust, and UNICEF. The latter two organizations have supported young people with lived experience of depression in consulting on the recommendations and their dissemination. Past WPA President and Editor of World Psychiatry M. Maj has had a prominent role in preparing the report, which is due for publication in early 2021. The WPA will be invited to have a continuing role in the life of the Commission.

  • As president of WPA, I co‐chair the World Economic Forum Global Future Council 2019‐2020 on Technology for Mental Health, that aims to promote the ethical adoption of technologies 12 and has acted to facilitate positive working relationships in the field.

WPA's ability to promote sustainable change in our field of work – in the midst of an emergency or at any time – depends on two main factors. The first is the capacity to collaborate successfully with other organizations. The second is its potential to engage psychiatrists in new challenges. The WPA has engaged in both these endeavours and has been fortunate in the support received from its Member Societies and all other components, its Secretariat and consultants, and from the new sources of philanthropic and development support we set out to attract. Just as fortunate is the message of continuity, as the preparation for the new triennium encourages the extension of current initiatives, including the emergency responses.

Throughout the triennium, the WPA has enjoyed a productive partnership with Community Works, whose team has supported the implementation of the Action Plan. Consultants V. Cameron and A. Pound have provided invaluable help in enabling the Action Plan.

References


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