Asian Journal of Psychiatry 3 (2010) 44–45

Asian Federation of Psychiatric Association’s Section

Russell D’Souza *, Afzal Javed, Hai-Gwo Hwu

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

journal homepage: www.e lsev ier .com/ locate /a jp

The Asian Federation of Psychiatric Association’s (AFPA)executive and board wishes all the readers of the Asian Journal

of Psychiatry a very happy and purposeful 2010.2009 was a period in which much effort was directed to building

and enhancing the capacity of psychiatry care in many of the Asianregions. After a period of planning, the Cambodian Mental HealthAssociation was formally inaugurated and three major teaching andtraining programs with a primary care focus were organised by theAFPA and the Cambodian Ministry of Health. In December 2009 theCambodian chapter of the South Asian Forum International onmental health and psychiatry was launched with a two-day teachingand training workshop for psychiatrists, general partitioners andallied mental health professionals—this was organised and fundedby the Indian chapter of the South Asian Forum International. This isan important development in mental health care of this low incomecountry which has had a complex past and which has lead to a largepsychiatric morbidity that now requires rebuilding of its psychiatryability to manage and care for the mental health of its population.

The 2nd International Review of Bipolar Disorders (IRBD) AsiaPacific conference co-sponsored by the AFPA took place at the LaMeriden Convention centre in Kochi. This meeting had over 280delegates with an international faculty of speakers from India, USA,UK and Australia. Genetic testing for Bipolar disorders and currentupdates were discussed and a stimulating debate ensued. Updateson diagnosis, treatment outcomes and comparisons of these acrossIndia, USA and Australia were presented. There was a review of theexperience of Indian Bipolar Clinics; the Indian experience wascompared with the step-BD USA approach. The meeting hadstimulating discussions that revealed the latent interest andknowledge base among many psychiatrists who are in privateclinical practice.

The 2nd World Congress of Asian Psychiatry, the officialcongress of the AFPA, was held in November at the Conventioncentre at Taipei Taiwan. The theme of the congress was ‘TowardsExcellence in Asian Psychiatry’. This followed the 1st WorldCongress of Asian Psychiatry that was held in August 2007 at GoaIndia. The 2nd World Congress of Asian Psychiatry congress washosted by the Taiwan Society of Psychiatry. There were over 800delegates with over 400 presentations which gave participants anopportunity to learn of research, academic and clinical work that isbeing carried out in many areas of Asia and in regions where someof this work is published in non-English language publications. Anarea that was reviewed was the classification of mental illness andits correlation with Asian psychiatry practice and cultural

* NPRC, 185 Coopers street, Melbourne 3076, Australia.

E-mail address: russell.f.dsouza@gmail.com (R. D’Souza).

1876-2018/$ – see front matter � 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2010.01.003

perspective, given that Asia hosts over 60% of the globalpopulation. Another area of interest was the young Asianpsychiatrist movement that is being led by the Japanese youngpsychiatrists who presented a number of papers. The Asian BipolarNetwork symposium convened and papers that reviewed thediagnosis, management and outcome trajectory for patients withBipolar disorders were presented. Awards for the pursuit ofexcellence in Psychiatry in regions with very limited resourceswere presented to the Cambodian Mental Health Association, theSrilankan College of Psychiatrists, the Fiji Psychiatric Associationand the Nepal Psychiatric Association. The noticeable aspects ofthis congress’s presentations were the initiatives shown bypsychiatrists and their colleagues to further the deinstitutionaliza-tion reforms in practices of psychiatry care with moves towardscommunity care. The postgraduate psychiatric courses in lowincome countries’ that have been initiated in recent years havedemonstrated tangible improvement in the care for the mentallyunwell. The AFPA Board meet and resolved several plans for thecontinued directions of the AFPA and its pursuit of Excellence inAsian Psychiatry. The hosting of the 3rd World Congress of AsianPsychiatry was awarded to the South Asian Forum Internationaland the Australian Asian Medical Federation, representingpsychiatrists of Asian ancestry serving out of Asia. This congresswill be held in Melbourne, Australia from 31st July to 4th August2011. Professor Wei Hao, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central SouthUniversity China, has been appointed as the Vice President EastAsia region and Professor Hai-Gwo Hwu, National TaiwanUniversity Hospital Taiwan, has been appointed as the deputysecretary general. The AFPA Welcomes Professor Wei Hao andProfessor Hai-Gwo Hwu in their new roles and is confident thatthey will make a significant contribution to AFPA and AsianPsychiatry. The Asian Journal of Psychiatry, which had a successfuleditorial board meeting, reviewed the progress and futuredirections of the Journal. There was commendation for the greatachievement in a relatively short time. The Editor-in-Chief,Professor Keshavan, was commended for his significant leadershipand dynamism that has contributed to the remarkable scholarlyquality achievement of the Asian Journal of Psychiatry in the shortperiod with two Volumes and six issues.

The 10th World Congress of the World Association forPsychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) was held in November atthe National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences(NIMHANS) Bangalore, India. This congress was co-sponsored bythe AFPA. This is the first time the WAPR World congress was heldin Asia. The meeting attracted 1400 delegates from all parts of theworld including most regions of Asia. NIMHANS in Bangalore waswell suited to host this world congress with its well knownrehabilitation department that is in the forefront of rehabilitation

R. D’Souza et al. / Asian Journal of Psychiatry 3 (2010) 44–45 45

of mental illness in Asia. This congress was an opportunity toreview the advances made in the area of recovery and rehabilita-tion for patients with mental illness. It was remarkable that manyAsian regions with limited resources had developed innovativemodels of rehabilitation with demonstrated positive outcomes. Dr.Afzal Javed of UK was elected as the President elect of the WAPRat this meeting. AFPA congratulates Dr. Javed and welcomes a

collaborative partnership between WAPR and AFPA in enhancingthe capacity of psychosocial rehabilitation in Asia.

Upcoming events are the CINP Congress Hong Kong 6th to 10thJune 2010; Association of South East Asian Nations Federation forPsychiatry and Mental Health Congress KL Malaysia August 2010;and the WPA Regional Conference 1st to 5th September 2010,Beijing, PR China.