WHO initiative: UHS, Portuguese universities to launch programme on mental health ::: Following an initiative led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the University of Health Sciences (UHS), Lahore, and the Nova University Lisbon (NUL), Portugal, will be collaborating on running an international masters programme in Mental Health Policy and Services. The Nova University is already offering this course in collaboration with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence of the World Health Organisation. The modules of the proposed masters programme would be run jointly by the two universities which will be launched next year. The participants of this joint masters programme will be drawn largely from the low and middle-income countries of WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, particularly focusing on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, etc. Initially, the course would admit 20 participants, using a selection criteria mutually agreed by UHS and NUL, a spokesman of the UHS said on Tuesday. An agreement in this regard was reached during a recent visit of UHS member Board of Governors Professor Malik Hussain Mubbashar and member Academic Council Professor Mowaddat Hussain Rana of Nova University Lisbon. Highlighting the programme, Professor Mubbashar said that course was being launched for the first time in the region. He said that public mental health is an area not adequately covered in traditional academic curricula. This programme would produce human resource which would assist governments in the formulation and implementation of mental health policies and legislations, he added. Professor Malik Hussain Mubbashar further said that the modules of the masters programme would be run jointly by the two universities with a contact period at each institution. Noted local and international mental health and public health professionals are being approached to serve as faculty for the programme, Professor Mubbashar said. It may be noted that mental health issues are not properly addressed in less developed and developing countries on account of various reasons including resource constraints and lack of knowledge. According to the World Health Organisation, unipolar depressive disorders were already ranked as the third leading cause of the global burden of disease and will move into the first place by 2030. Mental Health professionals said, 25 to 30-percent of the total population or about 30 to 40 million people of Pakistan are suffering from various mental disorders, while 15 to 20 million such people need to be admitted at psychiatric facilities for treatment. Leading psychiatrist Professor Dr Khalid Mufti told Business Recorder that psychological disorders affected the power of thinking and understanding, the way of talking and the attitude of a person, creating problems not only for his family but for the society as a whole. Professor Mufti said that mental disorders were curable by regular treatment. He stressed that in cases where people considered exorcising a patient, he was actually suffering from a kind of mental disorder.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:02:04 +0000
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