First Consultative Meeting of Psychiatrists in Yemen [Archives:2000/23/Health]

By Yasser M. Ahmed
Yemen Times
Meetings of the first consultative conference of Yemeni psychiatrists were concluded Monday 29. The meetings were held at Al-Afif Cultural Establishment. The two-day meeting was organized by Health and Culture Center and sponsored by Ministry of Public Health and the National Company for Insurance.
Dr. Nazar Ghanim, head of Health and Culture Center said the center is a Yemeni charitable establishment licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1992. The centre aims at offering preliminary balanced social development services, such as psychiatric treatment, training on certain skills and creating awareness among the social segments in need of such services.”
The meeting’s agenda rather focused on reviewal and scientific exchange of available local expertise such as those pertaining to issues of psychiatric health services in Yemen and studying ways of developing them. Special emphasis was put on strengthening the participating role of the various sectors concerned with this aspect. The meeting’s main premises centered on:
– The NGOs role in adopting psychiatric health issues and that of the private sector’s contributions to upgrading services of psychiatric health. Eleven working papers were presented at the meeting covering associations, centers and institutes of rehabilitation, psychiatric clinics and the experiment of private sector investment in psychiatric health area.
– Another topic dealt with at the meeting was that associated with administrative performance and legislation in the sector of psychiatric health, academic education and training cadres for this sector.
More that nine papers were presented in this regard including development of psychiatric health services in Yemen over two decades and some tackled the schizophrenia, law the role of academic education and its relationship to this job.
– Psychiatry and Yemeni society
A number of academicians talked about the role of psychiatric health in Yemeni society, a comparative study on benefiting from psychiatric health services and those of alternative psychiatry as well as role of psychological and educational reflections resulting from rumors and wrong ideas in the Yemeni environment. Another study tackled the topic of qat and psychiatric health and the normal human personality.
– The fourth theme of discussion dealt with diagnosis and treatment. A number of studies were presented by specialists in the technique of treatment by hypnoanalysis.
– As for the fifth theme it centered on preventive health and early health care, treatment and rehabilitation systems.
– A number of studies were presented by some academicians. It focused on psychological health as a main factor of health care for students. It also presented a study about psychiatric health for students of Sana’a University.
Those papers were presented and discussed over the three days of the meeting. The meeting drafted final recommendations focusing on speeding up the preparation of a draft law on psychiatric health to be approved by legislative executive powers. The participants also recommended the introduction of higher studies in the universities specialized in psychiatric health and coordination with various mass media to deal with psychiatric health matters. They also called on the ministries of education and higher education to open centers for rehabilitation of patients, support and encourage investment in the field of psychiatric health.
Other recommendation s called for paying attention to field scientific researches and studies on problems of psychiatric health in the society.
The meeting was attended by the minister of health Dr Abdullah Abdulwali Nasher, a number of officials, specialists and students of psychology department at Sana’a University.

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