Akční plán nového prezidenta WPA prof. Mario Maje

This Action Plan has been produced by the WPA Planning Committee, and reviewed and approved by the WPA Executive Committee and General Assembly. It contains the WPA institutional goals for the triennium 2008-2011 and a list of actions by which these goals will be pursued. The plan takes advantage of the experience acquired by the WPA during the past trienniums, and is going to be implemented with the active involvement of all the components of the Association.

Goal 1. To enhance the image of psychiatry worldwide among the general public, health professionals and policy makers.

Actions:

• 1.1. Give visibility to successful experiences in the mental health field, by regular press releases and reports in a section of the WPA website intended for the general public.
• 1.2. Fund three projects on improving the public image of psychiatry, selected on the basis of an international call for proposals.
• 1.3. Launch an international programme aiming to raise the awareness of the prevalence and prognostic implications of depression in persons with physical diseases, in collaboration with other international and national medical associations and with organizations of users and families.
• 1.4. Produce a set of guidelines on how to combat stigmatization of psychiatry and psychiatrists, to be posted on the WPA website and translated in several languages.
• 1.5. Establish a regular track at World and International Congresses and a special section in World Psychiatry focusing on successful experiences of mental health care in the various regions of the world.
• 1.6. Maintain and increase collaborative contacts with other international medical and health organizations.

Goal 2. To partner with Member Societies in their efforts to improve the quality of mental health care, education and research in their countries and regions, and in their attempts to upgrade their own structure, governance and organizational capacity.

Actions:

• 2.1. Join and assist Member Societies, upon their request, in their interactions with national and regional institutions concerning policy matters.
• 2.2. Join and assist Member Societies in the production and implementation of guidelines, ethical codes and research protocols.
• 2.3. Join and assist Member Societies in promoting the refinement of curricula for graduate and post-graduate psychiatric and public mental health education.
• 2.4. Produce a template for graduate and post-graduate psychiatric education to be posted on the WPA website and translated in several languages.
• 2.5. Join and assist Member Societies in the development and implementation of programmes for continuing education of psychiatrists, other mental health professionals and primary care practitioners.
• 2.6. Assist Member Societies, upon their request, in refining their structure and organization.
• 2.7. Organize a series of seminars at World and International Congresses in which leaders of selected Member Societies will illustrate the structure and activities of their associations to representatives of other Member Societies, answer their questions and provide advice on specific issues.

Goal 3. To promote the dissemination of information on recent clinical, service and research developments in such a way that it can be assimilated by psychiatrists of all regions of the world.

Actions:

• 3.1. Develop a programme of high-quality itinerant educational workshops, to be replicated in the four WPA Regions.
• 3.2. Develop a CME online programme for WPA individual members.
• 3.3. Produce a series of guidelines on issues of great practical relevance, translated in several languages.
• 3.4. Increase the dissemination of World Psychiatry and promote the translation of entire issues or selected articles in several languages, making them available on the WPA website and on the websites of relevant Member Societies.
• 3.5. Support the development of national psychiatric journals.

Goal 4. To promote the professional development of young psychiatrists worldwide.

Actions:

• 4.1. Launch, in collaboration with a network of centers of excellence, a programme of one-year fellowships for young psychiatrists from low-income countries, who will commit themselves to apply in their country of origin what they have learnt.
• 4.2. Organize a series of workshops on leadership and professional skills for young psychiatrists.
• 4.3. Facilitate the participation of young psychiatrists in WPA Congresses and other worthwhile scientific meetings, organizing, in the case of WPA Congresses, a fellowship programme and a meeting of the WPA Young Psychiatrists Council.
• 4.4. Stimulate the participation of young psychiatrists in the activities of WPA Scientific Sections.
• 4.5. Join and assist Member Societies in the development and implementation of programmes for young psychiatrists.

Goal 5. To promote the development of mental health care in low-income countries and its integration into primary care.

Action:

• 5.1. Develop a “training the trainers” programme, targeting nurses and clinical officers working in dispensaries and health centers, to be implemented in selected low-income countries.

Goal 6. To foster the participation of psychiatrists from all regions of the world in the international dialogue on clinical, service and research issues.

Action:

• 6.1. Ensure an adequate representation of psychiatrists from all regions of the world in WPA programmes, scientific meetings and publications, and in the activities of WPA Scientific Sections.

Goal 7. To promote the highest ethical standards in psychiatric practice and advocate for the rights of persons with mental disorders in all regions of the world.

Actions:

• 7.1. Launch an international programme on the protection and promotion of physical health in persons with severe mental disorders, in collaboration with other international and national medical associations and with organizations of users and families.
• 7.2. Support international and national initiatives aiming to protect the human rights of persons with mental disorders; to promote the meaningful involvement of these persons in the planning and implementation of mental health services; to encourage the development of a person-centered practice in psychiatry and medicine; and to promote equity in the access to mental health services for persons of different age, gender, race/ethnicity, religion and socioeconomic status.
• 7.3. Promote the implementation of the principles of the Declaration of Madrid in all countries of the world, and the continuing update of these principles on the basis of international input.

Goal 8. To promote the establishment of networks of scientists conducting collaborative research in the mental health field.

Actions:

• 8.1. Fund at least two high-quality international research projects conducted by WPA Scientific Sections.
• 8.2. Facilitate the involvement of the most prominent scientists of the world in the activities of the WPA Scientific Sections.

Goal 9. To increase the visibility and credibility of the Association at the international level.

Action:

• 9.1. Ensure that all WPA’s initiatives and products are of the highest possible quality level, with a fully effective utilization of available human resources.

Goal 10. To build up a long-term, solid and transparent partnership with potential donors.

Action:

• 10.1. Establish a consortium of donors which will partially fund the above-mentioned activities, as part of the WPA financial policy.