Board Meeting
The WFMH Board met on 20-22 May in Alexandria, Virginia, USA at the US National Mental Health Association’s offices where the Secretariat is located. During the meeting, the Board unanimously agreed that Professor Marten deVries, M.D., should become Secretary General of WFMH to succeed Professor Eugene B. Brody, M.D., who will retire from the post at the World Congress in Chile. The Alexandria office headed by Deputy Secretary General Richard Hunter will continue to function as the Secretariat of the Federation, and the newsletter and other communications will be handled, as before, from the Baltimore office by Elena Berger.
The Board accepted a resolution to increase its size by four in order to broaden the membership. This resolution is subject to ratification by the Assembly in Chile. In other business the theme of “Mental Health and the Workplace” for World Mental Health Day next year (10 October 2000) was approved.
A presentation was made to the Board by Nancy Wallace, the Federation’s Main Representative at the United Nations in New York, about the complicated environment in which non-governmental organizations operate at the UN. Harvey Whiteford, M.D., the WFMH-sponsored mental health advisor to the World Bank, briefed the Board on recent changes in the way the Bank operates and on the place of health policy in its loan program. Bill Phelps, a business consultant with Arthur Andersen, attended the last day of the meeting and provided comments on strategic planning. Mr. Phelps has been involved with the Federation’s strategic planning process for several years.
During discussion of the Federation’s goals for the Strategic Plan the Board divided into four groups to work on ways to support each goal. These will be presented at the next Board meeting in Chile. The four goals are to heighten public awareness about the importance of mental health, and to gain understanding and improve attitudes about mental disorders; to promote mental health and optimal functioning; to prevent mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders; and to improve the care and treatment of those with mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders.