New Mental Health Specialist at the World Bank (Last Updated On: ) New Mental Health Specialist at the World Bank Florence Baingana of Uganda will replace Harvey Whiteford as the WFMH-sponsored Mental Health Specialist at the World Bank. She arrived in Washington, D.C. from Africa in January for the selection interview, just as a major winter storm began. While the city almost came to a standstill under heavy snow she appeared on schedule at the Bank for the interview, and said afterwards how much she was enjoying the weather. It turned out that not only did she have an Africans special appreciation of the beauty of snow, she had spent two years in Canada from 1991 to 1993 and was well prepared to deal with it (unlike most Washingtonians). Dr. Baingana is a psychiatrist employed as a Principal Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health of Uganda and her work experience ranges from village and district level in Uganda to international activities. She received her medical training at Makerere University Medical School in Kampala. In the course of her career she has done relief work with displaced women and children, assessed the nutritional status of children in refugee camps, taught medical students, nurses and psychiatric clinical officers, assessed mental health services at the local level, participated in national health planning, represented the Ministry of Health at international meetings, and worked closely with international agencies such as WHO and UNICEF. The Mental Health Program in Uganda When she joined the Ministry of Health in 1996 after working in a variety of medical settings she was given a newly created position to establish a Mental Health Division. In less than four years considerable progress has been made in developing the Division and integrating mental health into primary health care. Mental health has now been given a budget line by the Ministry of Health. It is also a component of the Minimum Health Care Package in the countrys new Health Policy Document for 1999-2009, which sets out the minimum package that districts must provide in local health care planning. Dr. Baingana has concentrated on helping the districts within Ugandas decentralized health system to plan for mental health services. When she took up her post at the Ministry some districts already had services of some kind (one of them relied on a single dedicated mental health worker) but others had no services at all. The system of training for local health workers has been revised to teach them to recognize common mental health disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and epilepsy (which is included in the category by local custom). Continuing education about mental illness is also provided for older workers who were trained according to different standards. A referral system has been established to provide higher-level care. Dr. Baingana notes that there is a severe lack of knowledge in Uganda about mental illness, and as a result there is an urgent need to dispel beliefs that people are bewitched or possessed by bad spirits. A big part of the mental health program focuses on public education and on letting people know that treatment is available. Volunteer Activities Of particular interest to WFMH, she has a strong record of volunteer activities including work with organizations that focus on womens issues. Since 1989 she has been a member of Action for Development, an NGO working to improve the general situation of Ugandan women, and is its current Treasurer. In 1994 she helped to start an organization, Hope After Rape, which provides psychological support for women, raises consciousness about rape and collects information about its incidence. She is presently its Vice Chairperson. She is also a member of the WFMH Womens Committee and attended its first meeting at the World Congress in Lahti, Finland in 1997. Dr. Baingana developed another contact with WFMH through an outreach effort by one of the Federations member organizations, SIND (the Danish Mental Health Association). WFMH Board member Knud Jensen has travelled to Uganda several times on behalf of SIND to help to plan advocacy on behalf of people suffering from epilepsy, mental disorders and mental retardation. As a result of his advice three separate advocacy organizations were formed rather than one. He revisited Kampala in 1999 for the foundation of one of them, Mental Health Uganda, which represents consumers, parents and carers. There are currently three branches, each with a membership of thirty to forty people. Dr. Baingana took up her post at the World Bank early in April. Harvey Whiteford, who is continuing to consult part-time at the Bank on mental health programs, returned to Washington from Australia at the same time to introduce her to work in progress. They will continue to collaborate in the coming year to strengthen mental health initiatives in the Banks health planning programs. – Elena Berger