Program
| Time | Who | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | coffee and mingling | |
| 09:00-09:30 | Suraj Thapa, Ass. Professor, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Division of Mental Health and Addiction/ Research Group on Traumatic Stress, Forced Migration and Global Mental Health, University of Oslo (UiO). |
Welcome Norpart Excel Smart |
| 09:30-10:00 | Johanne Sundby, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, UiO | Female refugees: in need of mental health interventions, especially during pregnancy. What types of interventions are feasible in a low resource setting? |
| 10:00-10:45 | Jagdish P. Agrawal, Dean and Professor, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu | Neurological diseases including cysticercoids in Nepal. |
| 10:45-11:00 | Coffee break | |
| 11:00-11:30 | Agnes Fleury, Professor, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía, National Autonomous University of Mexico, | Neurocysticercosis (NCC) in Latin America |
| 11:30-12.00 | Dr. Dominik Stelzle, Post doctoral fellow, Technical University of Munich (TUM) | NCC treatment in sub-saharan Africa |
| 12:00-12:45 | Lunch break | |
| 12:45-13:15 | Andrea S. Winkler, Director, Centre for Global Health, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, UiO | Global burden of neurological and psychiatric disorders |
| 13:15 -13:45 | Prof. Saroj P. Ojha, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University | How can mental health services be improved in low-income countries? - Examples from Nepal |
| 13:45-14:00 | Coffee break | |
| 14:00-14:30 | Maria Stylianou Korsnes, Professor, Institute of Psychology, UiO |
Depression and dementia in old populations |
| 14:30 -15:00 | Suraj Thapa moderating a panel with the participants | Panel: Modifiable risk factors for neurological disease in low income settings |
| 15:00- 15:15 | Andrea S. Winkler | Closing remarks |
Psychiatric and neurological disorders are known causes of disability which make a substantial contribution to the global burden of disease, not only in high-income countries but also in low- and middle-income countries. In fact, neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and the second leading cause of mortality globally. It is very common for the burden of neurological diseases to be underestimated, as is the case for example with the calculations carried out by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME, 2019). When the calculations by the IHME were revisited and the various disease categories that included neurological disorders were pulled together, data show the burden of neurological diseases to increase fourfold and when psychiatric disorders are added (mental health disorders) that burden undergoes a fivefold increase. Among the non-communicable diseases (NCDs), mental and neurological disorders account for 28% of DALYs - more than cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
In most of the low- and middle-income countries, there is a severe lack of services and resources for the field of mental health. The treatment gap is much broader in these countries compared to the high-income countries. Unlike global psychiatry, which has received increased attention and recognition in the last decade, global neurology with focus in low-and middle - income countries has yet to get similar recognition and focus. There is enough evidence that these countries have quite high prevalence of neurological disorders, but do not have enough neurologists or adequate health care system/resources that could address the challenges. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 12 % of deaths worldwide are due to neurologic disorders. Low- and middle-income countries disproportionately shoulder this burden, demonstrating a dire need for neurologists in resource-limited countries. With the current global mental health seminar, we want to draw attention to the important field of Global Mental Health and also to the fact that Global Psychiatry and Global Neurology need to come together more closely to face the burden of disease challenges of the 21st century.