Mental health

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• World Health Assembly, day 2: resolution on noncommunicable diseases approved
  24-05-2012
  A resolution on strengthening noncommunicable disease policies to promote active ageing was approved by countries on the second day of WHO’s global annual meeting.
• Mental health and well-being: why pay attention to this issue during adolescence?
  02-05-2012
  HBSC fact sheet
• WHO report reveals teenagers do not get a fair deal on health
  02-05-2012
  Widespread inequalities mean that many young people in the WHO European Region and North America are not as healthy as they could be, according to a new report on the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, published by the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
• Empowering patients
  17-04-2012
  From passive recipient to co-producer of health care – health systems must involve chronically ill people as equal partners in their treatment to be effective. The First European Conference on Patient Empowerment was held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11–12 April 2012. Read more …
• "Dementia: a public health priority" - new report by WHO and Alzheimer’s Disease International
  13-04-2012
  The number of people living with dementia worldwide is currently estimated at 35.6 million. This number will double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050. Sadly, there is lack of awareness and understanding of dementia in most countries.
• Turkey initiates staff training for new community-based mental health services
  30-03-2012
  On 27 March 2012, more than 120 multi-disciplinary staff of 47 newly established community mental health　centres across Turkey came together to attend the first two-day introductory training programme on the basics of community mental health care functions.
• Strengthening the capacity of mental health professionals and user associations in South-eastern Europe
  08-03-2012
  The WHO/Europe Mental Health programme will participate in the Regional Meeting of South-eastern Europe (SEE) Health Network Mental Health Counterparts, to be held in Belgrade, Serbia on 22-23 March.
• Mental health centre in South-eastern Europe develops new website
  23-02-2012
  The Regional Health Development Center on Mental Health in South-eastern Europe (SEE) has developed a new website which continues the Center's goal of strengthening cooperation among SEE countries in the field of mental health.
• WHO/Europe responds to call for development of NCD targets and indicators
  06-02-2012
  A Regional Technical Consultation on Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) Surveillance, Monitoring and Evaluation will take place in Oslo 9-10 February 2012.
• First European Conference on Patient Empowerment - living with chronic disease
  02-02-2012
  The conference will take place 11-12 April 2012, in Copenhagen, Denmark and is organized in close technical collaboration with WHO/Europe under the auspices of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
• Community care – human rights and rights of the family
  05-12-2011
  The European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI) invited families and carers to discuss the challenges they face and the needs they have at a conference in Basel, Switzerland. Representatives from 44 EUFAMI family associations and delegates from across all parts of Europe participated.
• Republic of Moldova - consensus on actions to strengthen mental health services
  28-11-2011
  Recently, the Republic of Moldova established a national intersectoral committee on mental health to address the development in linking mental health services to overall health system development.
• Impressive transformation of mental health services in Georgia
  28-11-2011
  Over the past four years, Georgia has initiated an impressive transformation of their mental health services. The WHO mission visiting Georgia in November 2011 saw clear progress from 2008 when services relied on traditional dispensaries and old hospitals with uncertain supplies of medication.
• Investing in mental health: focus of World Mental Health Day
  07-10-2011
  World Mental Health Day (10 October 2011) focuses on investment. Good mental health contributes to economic prosperity, and improving a population’s mental health yields benefits in both human and economic terms.
• "Impact of economic crises on mental health" now available in Russian
  03-10-2011
  This publication, "Impact of economic crises on mental health" is now available in Russian. The economic crisis is expected to produce secondary mental health effects that may increase suicide and alcohol death rates. However, the mental health effects of the economic crisis can be offset by social welfare and other policy measures.
• Roadmap for next steps in deinstitutionalization in mental health service delivery in Bulgaria
  20-09-2011
  A conference to outline the next steps in deinstitutionalization in mental health service delivery will take place 7-8 October 2011, in Sofia, Bulgaria. This event is being held to follow-up a national conference held in December 2010.
• Noncommunicable diseases top of world’s agenda
  19-09-2011
  Today and tomorrow (19–20 September 2011), high-level representatives of the 193 countries in the United Nations are meeting in New York, United States of America, to discuss the worldwide epidemic of noncommunicable diseases.
• Free and anonymous mental health counselling meets a great demand in Kyrgyzstan
  06-09-2011
  In response to the inter-ethnic violent conflict, which escalated in June 2010 in the south of Kyrgyzstan, the WHO Country Office, Kyrgyzstan received funds from the Russian Federation to improve the provision of mental health interventions and medical services in Osh and Jalalabad oblasts.
• WHO/Europe's governing body expected to endorse Bucharest Declaration on health of children with intellectual disabilities
  22-08-2011
  The governing body of WHO/Europe will meet in Baku, Azerbaijan 12-15 September. The 53 European Member States are expected to endorse the European Declaration on the Health of Children and Young People with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families presented in Bucharest last year.
• World Humanitarian Day celebrates people helping people
  19-08-2011
  Health professionals provide vital health care in communities every day. In humanitarian crises and disasters, their services are in even greater demand: treating injuries, preventing illnesses and caring for the urgent health needs of the most vulnerable people. WHO/Europe is currently managing a project providing mental health services to those affected by conflict in Kyrgyzstan.
• Headaches common but neglected
  09-05-2011
  WHO’s new atlas of headache disorders reveals that over half of all adults in the European Region have experienced migraine, tension-type headache or medication-overuse headache in the previous year. Nevertheless, these disorders are underrecognized, underdiagnosed and undertreated.
• Incorporating mental health into primary health care in Uzbekistan
  27-04-2011
  A 4-day training course was developed and successfully conducted in March 2011 for 19 general practice trainers and undergraduate instructors of mental health from medical institutes across the country.
• Celebration of World Autism Awareness Day in Slovakia, 2 April 2011
  07-04-2011
  The Society for Helping People with Autism Slovakia (SPOSA) in partnership with the WHO Country Office in Slovakia, the First Lady, the Mayor of Bratislava and the Old City Mayor organized an open public event on the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day,  entitled “Open the Door to the Autism World”.
• Mental health in economic crises
  17-03-2011
  People in countries with strong social protection measures are more resilient to the mental health effects of economic crises. 
• New publication: Impact of economic crises on mental health
  14-03-2011
• Partners in mental health
  15-02-2011
  People with intellectual disabilities (self-advocates) took an active role in the WHO/Europe conference on “better health, better lives”, and endorsed the new WHO declaration on mental health.
• Global status report on alcohol and health 2011
  11-02-2011
  The Global status report on alcohol and health (2011) presents a comprehensive perspective on the global, regional and country consumption of alcohol, patterns of drinking, health consequences and policy responses. In addition to the global perspective, the report contains country profiles for each European Member State.
• Statement of Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) on Pandemrix® vaccine and narcolepsy
  10-02-2011
  A statement of the National Institute of Health and Welfare of Finland indicated an increased risk of narcolepsy among children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix®, an adjuvanted vaccine against pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has reviewed the data and released a statement.
• Pandemrix® vaccine and increased risk of narcolepsy
  01-02-2011
  The National Institute of Health and Welfare of Finland issued a statement on 1 February 2011, indicating an increased risk of narcolepsy (a rare sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly) observed among children and adolescents vaccinated with Pandemrix®, an adjuvanted vaccine against pandemic influenza A(H1N1) 2009 manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
• Children’s right to family life
  22-11-2010
  The best place for children – including those with intellectual disabilities – is in the community. The experiences of three children explain why life at home is so important.
• Launching of WHO initiative Better health better lives: children and young people with intellectual disabilities and their families
  12-11-2010
  Better health better lives: children and young people with intellectual disabilities and their families is a WHO initiative that aims to ensure that all children and young people with intellectual disabilities are fully participating members of society, living with their families, integrated in the community and receiving health care and support proportional to their needs. The initiative will be launched at a conference in Bucharest, Romania 26 – 27 November 2010 in partnership with UNICEF and will result in a declaration that covers 4 key objectives.
• Kyrgyzstan’s health services receive boost
  09-11-2010
  WHO and the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan are rolling out a series of new projects to support health services, particularly emergency services and mental health care.
• New rehabilitation guidelines for the disabled launched
  09-11-2010
  WHO has released new community-based rehabilitation (CBR) guidelines to support the inclusion of people with disabilities in health, education, employment, social, skills-training and other community services and activities.
• Empowerment Leadership Meeting - 27th and 28th October 2010
  13-10-2010
  The WHO Regional Office for Europe in partnership with the European Commission Directorate for Health and Consumers will hold a Leadership Meeting on Empowerment in Mental Health, hosted by EUFAMI.
• Chronic physical illness and mental health
  08-10-2010
• User empowerment in mental health - a statement by the WHO Regional Office for Europe
  14-06-2010
  The key to empowerment is the removal of formal or informal barriers and the transformation of power relations between individuals, communities, services and governments. This statement specifies the action to be taken to strengthen user and carer empowerment in mental health and outlines the objectives of the Partnership Project on User Empowerment in Mental Health by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the European Commission.
• Report from Youth Access reveals strong links between social welfare problems, mental health and youth, European Commission, 2010
  11-05-2010