Psychiatrists from Saarc region are converging in Lahore from Friday (today) to participate in a three-day 5th Saarc Psychiatric Federation (SPF) conference to share their experience in psychiatry and to present their papers about the present day issues relating to the profession of psychiatry in their respective countries.
With the theme of "Building bridges to provide mental healthcare in the Saarc region," the moot is being jointly hosted by the Saarc Psychiatric Federation (SPF) and Pakistan Psychiatric Research Centre in collaboration with World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Zones 15 and 16, WPA Section on Psychiatry in Developing Countries, World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, South Asian Forum on Mental Health.
Highlighting the objective of the moot, Co-ordinator of the Steering Committee and President-elect of World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Professor Dr Afzal Javed told Business Recorder that mental health in particular is not a priority area in the countries of Saarc region mainly due to limited number of mental health professionals, absence of mental health policies, poverty, soaring inflation and lack of authentic research data.
He was of the view that South Asian nations need to have a joint dialogue on formulating a uniform health policy to cater major psychiatric issues in a co-ordinated manner.
He said that people of Saarc region are mostly facing common psychiatric issues and this moot would go a long way in formulating recommendations in a bid to combat the mental health problems. He said the recommendations to be adopted in this moot would be presented to the authorities concerned in the Saarc region.
Professor Dr Afzal Javed, who is also Co-Convenor of WPA Section on Psychiatry in Developing Countries, said that Saarc Psychiatric Federation had already taken initiatives in different areas of mental health. Some of the projects that are under consideration for the future work include: focusing attention on the current inadequacies in mental health delivery in South Asia region, planning for a unified mental health policy in the region, reviewing programmes of training for undergraduate medical students in psychiatry and empowering patients and their families in the treatment programmes.
Unfolding the programme of the 5th Saarc Psychiatric Federation (SPF) conference, Professor Dr Nasir Saeed, head of Psychiatry Department Services Hospital Lahore, Dr Altaf Qadir, head of Psychiatry Department Lahore General Hospital and Dr Usman Amin Hotiana, Consultant Psychiatrist, PIMH Lahore told reporters at a news conference that apart from psychiatrists from Saarc region, mental health professionals from USA and UK are also participating in the moot to share their experience with the participants.
Prior to inaugural session on the opening day on Friday, there will be workshops on "Psycho Trauma," "Community Psychiatry" and "Mood Disorder" apart from special lecture by leading health professionals.
On Saturday, there will be workshops, scientific sessions, symposiums and group discussions on "Depression", "Dealing with Disasters," "Alzheimer's Disease," "Community Mental Health in South Asia," "Stigma in Psychiatry," "Disorders in Children and Adolescents."
On concluding day on Saturday, there will be discussions on "Extremism, Militancy and Insurgency: Etiology and Intervention in Swat," "Mental Health Legislation" and "Suicide Prevention."
Professor Dr Nasir Saeed told reporters that there is anxiety-prone situation in Pakistan, which is giving rise to psychiatric problems in the country. He added that same is the case in Saarc region.
According to him, discriminatory policies are also contributing for surge in mental health issues. However, he said anxiety is root cause of depression, which, if left untreated, may lead towards serious mental health problems.
To a query, he said that psychiatric issues in Saarc region are almost same, as poverty, unemployment, lawlessness and economic sufferings are giving rise to mental health problems.
There is also surge in tendency of suicide for which it is necessary that psychiatric problems need to be detected and diagnosed timely.