London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The Global Mental Health Seminar Series presents:

Breaking Walls, Building Bridges: Mental Health Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on Albania and Kosovo

About the seminar:

It has been more than 25 years since the end of the cold war, when countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) emerged shaken: politically, economically and socially. Approaches to mental health during communism were purely biological while as care-systems were centralised and hospital-based. Although, there have been quite a few positive developments in the region the systems remain ineffective, under resourced and fraught with human rights’ issues.

The region has the highest proportion of disease burden in the world due to mental health problems as well as the highest suicide rates, but strikingly, the lowest funding levels in Europe (15 times lower than other European neighbours). Despite all these issues, countries of Central and Eastern Europe do not appear to be on the agenda of the global mental health community.

This seminar will provide an overview of mental health provision in the CEE region. We are especially pleased to have with us the Health Deputy Minister of Albania who will be presenting on the challenging journey of mental health reforms in his country.

Schedule

12.00 -12.10     Introduction      

Dr Arlinda Cerga Pashoja (Co-Deputy Director, Centre for Global Mental Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)

12.10 - 12.30    The development of mental health care for people with severe mental illnesses in central and eastern Europe in the last 25 years

Dr Petr Winkler  (Head  of Department of Social Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Czech Republic)

12.30 - 12.50    Mental Health Care in Albania - A brief history of falling walls      

Dr Klodian Rjepaj (Deputy Minister of Health of Albania)

12.50 - 13.10    Developing community mental healthcare in Kosovo      

Dr Naim Fanaj (Director of Community Mental Health Centre, Prizren)

13.10 - 13.30    European Alliance Against Depression: Implementing a complex intervention for treatment of depression in Albania and Kosovo.

Elizabeth Kohls & Juliane Hug (Leipzig University)

13.30 - 13.45    Panel Q&A   Prof Ricardo Araya

13.45 - 14:45    Refreshments