On November 23rd 2011 a special issue of Intervention, 'the International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict' will be published. This issue contains 220 pages and was financially supported by the UNHCR through an unrestricted grant. The theme of this issue is:
'The integration of mental health into existing health systems during and after complex emergencies'
Fifteen articles describe a wide range of experiences in a variety of contexts such as Haïti and Peru after devastating earthquakes or Sri Lanka after the tsunami and countries recovering from armed conflict (Iraq, Uganda and Burundi), dealing with occupation (Palestinian territory) with authoritarian rule (Equatorial Guinea) or dealing with influx of large groups of refugees such as Lebanon, Syria and Chad. Editors for this special issue are the editor in chief of the journal, Peter Ventevogel (the Netherlands), Florence Baingana (Uganda), Alberto Fernández Liria (Spain) and Pau Pérez-Sales (Spain). All are psychiatrists with a long experience in developing mental health care systems in (post) emergency settings.
Perez-Sales, one of the editors, stresses the importance of this theme:
'In aid work one often makes a distinction between humanitarian and development aid. This distinction is more theoretical than real. It is well known that the impact of a disaster (and the possibility to confront it effectively) depends strongly on the social, political and structural conditions of the community in which the event occurred. Real aid should go beyond palliative actions to alleviate the immediate needs of survivors Real aid should also consist of a comprehensive set of actions that work towards a longer term goal.
The World Health Organization and experts agree that probably the biggest global mental health challenge for the twenty-first century is the effective introduction of mental health into primary care health. Access to mental health care is a basic human right. The challenge is to reflect on how emergencies (acute or chronic) may provide opportunities for strengthening local mental health systems.
This special issue demonstrates the emerging consensus about good and bad practices. It is simply not acceptable anymore to spend huge sums of money on short-term mental health programmes that ignore the reality of the communities. Existing resources must be optimized to ensure that humanitarian aid has a genuine transformative power.'
The special issue can be consulted on www.interventionjnl.com.
