National Mental Health Planning in Chile
One of the unexpected outcomes of the Congress was an opportunity for a group of participants to provide input for Chilean legislators who are currently considering a new national mental health plan. This flowed from a Congress session in which a panel of speakers was invited to comment on the plan’s development.
This session, held on 7 September, was chaired by Dr. A. Minoletti, Chile’s Director of Mental Health, who gave an overview of current developments. This was followed by a review of the prospective national plan by Benedetto Saraceno of WHO, who discussed programmatic issues; and Harvey Whiteford of the World Bank, who spoke about financial aspects of planning. Thomas Bornemann, Deputy Director of the U.S. Center for Mental Health Services, addressed the importance of integrating services in the larger health sector, using a public health approach.
Dr. Minoletti found the panel discussion so useful that he invited Marten deVries and other WFMH members to travel the following day to Valparaiso, the nearby city where the parliament (National Congress) is situated, to meet with a group of legislators and officials. The Speaker of the House attended, together with the chairpersons of the parliamentary committees on Health, Families, Substance Abuse and Education. The planning review was extended with a presentation by Sergio Aguilar of Fresno State University, USA, on the epidemiological aspects of the situation and another by John Copeland of Liverpool University, U.K. on the importance of recognizing the special needs of elderly people in the population. The delegation from the Congress also included Edgardo Perez, CEO of Homewood Health Center, Canada.