WPA Congress to Be Held in Asia

The first world congress of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) in Asia will take place next August in Yokohama, Japan, and will serve as an international forum for the discussion of key issues in psychiatry.

The XII World Congress of Psychiatry also celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology. The WPA congress takes place every three years in a different city.

The theme of the 2002 congress, “Partnerships for Mental Health,” is aimed at building collaborations between nations, people with mental illness and their families, and mental health professionals of many disciplines.

“During the past decade, world congresses of psychiatry have been milestones for the development of our discipline and for the enrichment of our knowledge as professionals,” said WPA President Juan López-Ibor, M.D., Ph.D., in a statement last year. “Each world congress is also an opportunity to contact colleagues from other parts of the world and confront different approaches to psychiatry.”

The meeting will take place August 24 to 29 and offers English translation throughout the program, which will include plenary lectures, forums, symposia, workshops, courses, and posters. The deadline for scientific submissions is January 31.

Congress organizers expect 250 symposia will be offered, with topics ranging from recent results of investigations of the biological correlates on mental illness to ethical issues in psychiatric education. WPA sections (many of which are led by American psychiatrists) play a major role in the preparation of symposia and other aspects of the scientific program.

According to WPA past president and chair of WPA’s Scientific Committee Norman Sartorius, M.D., there will be special emphasis at this year’s congress on symposia that discuss the notion of partnerships. “The differences between countries and the experiences of psychiatrists working in them could be a rich source of inspiration for research and service development,” he said in a written statement.

Sartorius said that finding ways to develop quality mental health programs in developing countries would be useful models for psychiatry in more wealthy countries currently facing economic difficulties.

Among those who attend WPA congresses are psychiatrists, mental health professionals, people with mental illness and their families, politicians, attorneys, and policymakers.

In addition to a scientific program, there will be a rich cultural program, and attendees can explore the traditional music, art, and culture of Yokohama through courses and visits to a variety of monuments in Yokohama and vicinity.

The richness of the Congress’s scientific and cultural program shall be particularly attractive to American psychiatrists, given the growing multiculturality of the APA membership and the U.S. population.

The WPA is offering a fellowship for 200 young psychiatrists with promising scientific skills. The fellowship will fund all aspects of their attendance at the 2002 congress and is intended to help them improve their academic and leadership abilities so that they can work with various national psychiatric societies.

The WPA is offering discount packages with national societies to cover both travel and accommodation expenses. Further information about this and other aspects of the congress can be obtained by e-mail at [email protected] or [email protected]; on the Web at www.wpa2002yokohama.org; or by telephone at (718) 334-5094. ▪