News From the Region

(Last Updated On: )

Western Pacific

WFMH Representatives Visit Taiwan

In July President Elect Pirkko Lahti and Nancy Wallace, WFMH’s Main

Representative at UN NY, participated in a conference on disaster management

in Taiwan at the invitation of Regional Vice President Chueh Chang. The

conference “Disaster and Mental Health: Interactions among Government, NGOs

and International Organizations” on 29-30 July brought together

professionals and volunteer organizations to review the response to Taiwan’s

devastating earthquake on 21 September 1999. (Since that time Taiwan has

experienced many aftershocks, prolonging the trauma for survivors.)

Various NGOs reported on their work to help earthquake survivors, which

included both fund-raising to support relief efforts and the direct

provision of services. Pirkko Lahti spoke about international activities

for mental health, including WFMH’s World Mental Health Day and next year’s

mental health campaign by WHO. Nancy Wallace spoke about NGO advocacy at

the United Nations, and also discussed the value of NGO advocacy at the

regional and local level.

Both visitors were impressed by the way the conference recognized the

importance of the”grassroots” response by volunteers in the crisis. However

Pirkko Lahti later emphasized the need for advance preparation and

recommended that cooperation between volunteers and professionals should be

developed to avoid duplication of effort. Nancy Wallace also felt that it

was important to have an ongoing process to improve the response to natural

disasters. She also noted that there was an alarming rise in the number of

suicide attempts after the earthquake, a development that deserved

investigation.

Before the conference the WFMH representatives took part in a press

conference on consumers’ affairs (28 July) organized by the Taiwan Mental

Health Alliance and cosponsored by the Republic of China Consumer Foundation

and the WFMH Western Pacific Region. Among the issues discussed were

consumers’ rights, violence against women, and inappropriate responses in

the medical system. Eight TV channels and 15 newspapers covered the event,

which was the first effort by NGOs to publicize consumers’ concerns.

Pirkko Lahti and Nancy Wallace had a full program of activities during the

remainder of their stay in Taiwan. They met with officials from the

Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs, and found a strong interest in

mental health as a global issue at both government departments. In

recognition of this year’s World Mental Health Day theme, “Mental Health and

Work,” they spent time at an oil refinery where they met with labor leaders

to discuss workers’ issues at the refinery and labor organization in the

country as a whole. They also visited social projects run by the Peng Wan

Ru Foundation to promote the well-being and safety of children. They saw a

summer school program for children with behavioral and learning disabilities

where traditional calligraphy was taught for its therapeutic value. They

also went to a clinic for alternative medicine and mental health.

There is considerable interest in developing a Western Pacific Regional

Council for WFMH, and Dr. Yow Hwey Hu heads a preparatory committee for the

Council. The host group arranging the visit, which included Professors Hu,

Chang, Chou and D.T.M. Wu, discussed the structure of WFMH’s Board and

possible ways of proceeding to strengthen regional development.