DUSHANBE, October 3, 2008, Asia-Plus — Events dedicated to World Mental Health Day were launched in Tajikistan today.
A roundtable meeting on occasion of World Mental Health Day was held in the office of Tajik Journalists’ Union today morning. Representatives from the Ministry of Health (MoH), the World Health Organization (WHO) Dushanbe Office, as well as some other international organizations, NGOs and media took part at the meeting.
The World Mental Health Day is marked in Tajikistan for the first time.
Speaking at the meeting, Santino Severoni, the head of the WHO Office in Tajikistan, noted that the fact that Tajikistan marks the World Mental Health Day is a certain indicator and evidence of increasing interest of the Tajik government in problems connected with mental health of the population. Mr. Severoni pointed out a role of media in improvement of mental health of the nation.
During the meeting, it was noted that a series of activities dedicated to the World Mental Health Day are organized in the country fro October 3 to October 10. On October 10, the second annual forum on mental health will be held in Dushanbe. The forum is expected to bring together psychotherapy specialists from all regions of the country, representatives of the MoH, international organizations and NGOs to discuss issues related to stigma and discrimination against persons with intellectual disabilities, social isolation of them, as well as problems of insufficient financing of psychiatric aid.
World Mental Health Day was observed for the first time in 1992. It was started as an annual activity of the World Federation for Mental Health by the then Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter. The day is officially commemorated every year on October 10.
The 2008 World Mental Health Day material will focus on where we came from and what needs to be done yet for the future. “We will highlight different levels of advocacy and its role in creating change and the need for scaling up services so all people have access to information, personalized treatment, and resources to assist them in all aspects of their recovery,” the World Federation for Mental Health said.
