Experts from China, Australia and Myanmar have developed a short training program for health professionals, focusing on improving the health response to depression in Myanmar.
The Global Burden of Disease is an international study, which has increased understanding of a population’s true health challenges. In Myanmar, a leading cause of Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) was found to be major depressive disorder.
Professor Win Aung Myint, Head of Department of Mental Health, Mental Health Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar says that the diagnosis of depression is a great challenge for services, because of gaps in knowledge and training, with the treatment gap of the depression estimated at up to 90%. People with depression usually go to general practitioners and non-psychiatric specialists for various presentations.
Mental Health Hospital, Yangon and Myanmar Mental Health Society with University of Melbourne, Australia the Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, China collaborated with the Lundbeck International Neuroscience Foundation (LINF) to conduct an international Symposium and Training Workshop on Depression in Myanmar.
In May 2015, over 2 days, International and Local Faculty facilitated workshops to explore models of care in low resource settings, multidisciplinary approach and local considerations, best practices in minimising stigma, promoting help-seeking, as well as early intervention for depression.
Photos from this program can be found here
Read more about this symposium here
