Update on WPA Scientific Meetings

The COVID‐19 pandemic has changed the world and continuously disrupted the organization of medical conferences across the entire world. While facing these uncertain and unprecedented times, the WPA continues to closely monitor the global risk assessment regarding the pandemic and its impact on international travel to hold face‐to‐face meetings.

The Association has made significant adjustment and progress in the recent months and will continue to do so. During the past year, it has built a state‐of‐the‐art platform designed to make the virtual experience easy, educational, convenient, interactive, and memorable. Scientific events continue to meet the needs of the global psychiatric community and provide cutting‐edge information on recent advances in psychiatry.

For this time of limited in‐person gathering, this virtual format meeting is a safe and excellent way to allow WPA Member Societies to network, continue to build bonds with each other and allow all to participate within their own safety. Virtual meetings have allowed us to create new opportunities together and make the events even more accessible to a worldwide audience.

The WPA is mindful that the global spread of the infection is increasing risk of developing mental disorders, relapse of existing mental disorders and poor mental health, in addition to impacting the work of mental health services. The Association aims to promote an increasing understanding of public mental health among professionals and the public, including collaboration with patient and family organizations. Sixteen working groups have been established to address the six priorities of the WPA Action Plan 2020‐2023 ¹ .

The key features of the Action Plan are to promote psychiatry as a medical specialty in clinical, academic and research areas, and to promote public mental health as a guiding principle; to highlight the specific role of psychiatrists in working with other professionals in health, public health, legal and social aspects of care; to ensure WPA's positive engagement with Member Societies, mental health professionals and general health care workers ² . The six areas of the WPA Action Plan include: public mental health; capacity building; child, adolescent and youth mental health; addressing comorbidity in mental health; developing partnerships with other professional and non‐governmental organizations; and continuation and completion of the previous WPA Action Plans.

Among the current priorities, public mental health continues getting particular attention1, 3.

As the COVID‐19 pandemic has put tremendous burden on health care systems all over the world, mental health services have also been severely affected. The devastating global burden of mental disorders continues unabated and, in fact, has been significantly exacerbated by the pandemic. The true burden lies not only among identified patients, but also within the general population, where stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders are often unrecognized, untreated, and seldomly prevented. Now, overwhelmingly, these conditions are compounded by the impact of the pandemic, including death of loved ones and associated grief. Most preventable ill‐health conditions have major consequences not only for the individual well‐being but also for every nation's economic prosperity4, 5, 6, 7.

The WPA Scientific Meetings are geared up to align with the WPA Action Plan and its six areas, and to address the above‐mentioned priorities. The programme of these meetings has been in full swing. The following events have been held or are confirmed or proposed: the first‐ever virtual World Congress of Psychiatry “Psychiatry in a Troubled World”, Bangkok, Thailand, March 10‐13, 2021, with a wonderful program of interactive sessions and world‐class speakers that made it an engaging and fulfilling experience; the Regional Congress “Interdisciplinary Understanding of Co‐morbidity in Psychiatry: from Science to Integrated Care”, St. Petersburg, Russia, May 15‐18, 2021; the Regional Congress “Psychopathology in Periods of Transition”, Kyiv, Ukraine, July 7‐9, 2021; the World Congress of Psychiatry “New World, New Challenges for Psychiatry and Mental Health”, Cartagena, Colombia, October 18‐21, 2021; the Thematic Congress, Cartagena, Colombia, February, 2022; the Thematic Congress “Public Mental Health”, Lahore, Pakistan, March 11‐13, 2022; the Thematic Congress, Moscow, Russia, June 2‐3, 2022; the Thematic Congress “Early Intervention in Psychiatry Across the Life Span”, Athens, Greece, June 23‐25, 2022; the World Congress of Psychiatry, Bangkok, Thailand, August 3‐6, 2022; the Intersectional Thematic Congress, Malta, November 10‐12, 2022; the Regional Congress, Hammamet, Tunisia, December 15‐17, 2022; the Thematic Congress “Mental Health in a New Era”, Karachi, Pakistan, March 3‐5, 2023; and the World Congress of Psychiatry, Vienna, Austria, September 2023.

At present, it is still uncertain when the pandemic will be mitigated and we will be able to travel safely and resume in‐person meetings. We will closely monitor the future development of the pandemic and diligently make appropriate adjustments in planning for future meetings. In the meantime, we have continued to do our utmost to promote the mission of the WPA and to contribute to the achievements and success of the Association, working closely with the Executive Committee and the Secretariat to oversee and co‐ordinate all official WPA meetings and manage applications for WPA co‐sponsored meetings, and maintaining responsibility for the development of proposals to host the World Congresses of Psychiatry and other meetings, and assist in all aspects of their organization ⁸ .

The WPA is confident that, by embracing these opportunities, taking global action and working closely together with international collaborations, we will overcome all the challenges. Together we shall move forward and define the future in psychiatry.