NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY TO BE OBSERVED AT HEADQUARTERS

An observance of World Mental Health Day will be held at United Nations Headquarters on Thursday, 7 October 1999, from 3 to 6 p.m. in Conference Room 1. The programme, titled “Culture, Society and Depression”, is being organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI) and is co-sponsored by DPI, the World Health Organization (WHO), Pharmacia & Upjohn, as well as two committees from the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Consultative Relationships with the United Nations (CONGO) -- the CONGO NGO Committee on Mental Health and the CONGO NGO Committee on Ageing.

Fabrizio Bassani, Executive Director of the WHO New York Office, will make welcoming remarks, followed by a panel discussion with mental health experts on different aspects of depression, addressed in a global context.

Alex Cohen, Coordinator of the World Mental Health Project and Instructor at Harvard Medical School Department of Social Medicine, will give a global overview of the problem of depression and moderate the panel discussion. Claudio Miranda, Regional Adviser, Mental Health, Pan American Health Organization, will address the WHO global perspective on mental health. Jennifer Hoblyn, Director of In-patient Geriatric Psychiatry and Co-Director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, will speak on depression in an ageing society. Karen Fraser Wyche, Associate Professor, New York University School of Social Work, will speak on women and depression. Kua Ee Heok, Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore, will address the effect of stigma on diagnosis and treatment of depression in Asia and Javier Sepulveda Amor, Psychiatrist, Hospital Angeles del Pedregal, Mexico City, will discuss the same issue as it applies to Mexico. Mary Guardino, Chairperson, Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks, will speak about the role of patient groups in educating patients society and in advocacy for improved treatment.

World Mental Health Day is normally observed on 10 October.

For further information, please contact (212) 963-7709 or (212) 963-0089; for media accreditation (212) 963-6934.

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