Mental health for all conference – connecting people and sharing experience

Many of you have either submitted abstracts or confirmed your attendance at the conference in Lille, France on 28th – 30th April 2015, “Mental Health for All – Connecting People and Sharing Experience.” This international meeting provides French Psychiatrists, Family Doctors and allied professionals with an opportunity to share good practice in mental health. We are delighted to have received such a large number and range of high quality abstracts from across the globe.

One in four adults will experience mental health difficulties and over 450 million people globally experience a mental disorder each year. Despite the commonly repeated mantra of ‘No health without mental health,’ people with mental health difficulties continue to face challenges in obtaining the help that they require.

Stigma and discrimination are significant barriers to obtaining good mental health care and to accessing the everyday social activities that keep us mentally well. Stigma interferes with people’s full participation in society and deprives them of their dignity.

People with mental health difficulties, their families, carers, governments, NGOs (non-governmental organisations), professionals of all kinds and the associations that represent them would like all encounters to result in a positive dignity experience. As mental health advocates, we understand that making dignity in mental health a reality requires every member of society to work together and make mental health visible, not something to be ashamed of. We would like you to join us in Lille to improve the visibility of mental health and make your contribution.

We have a line-up of excellent Plenary Speakers including George Christodoulou, Shekhar Saxena, Jean-Luc Roelandt, Renaud Jadri, Jean Oureib, David Goldberg, Job FM Metsemakers, Mike Pringle, Michael Hübel, Dinesh Bhugra, Tine Van Bortel, David Crepaz-Keay, Antony Dowell, Antoine Lazarus, Unaiza Niaz, Jeffrey Geller, Ulrich Hegerl, Pierre Thomas, Patt Franciosi and Gabriel Ivbijaro.

The draft conference programme is now available on the conference website using this link  and we launch the ‘Lille Declaration for Mental Health’ on Thursday 30th April 2015.

WFMH (World Federation of Mental Health) , Wonca (World Association of Family Doctors) International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and French psychiatric partners including CPNLF, SiP, afpbn, SFPEADA, Fédération Régionale Nord-Pas-de Calais de Recherche en Santé Mentale , GDR 3557 Recherche Psychiatrie and the Institut de Psychiatrie are working together to provide an enriching experience.

Please register for the conference here.

Come and join us and make a difference.
Professor Gabriel Ivbijaro MBE & Dr Luis Galvez
Joint Chair of Host organising Committee & Chair, WONCA Working Party on Mental Health (respectively)