Message from the WFMH President 2023
Dear friends of WFMH,
It gives me great pleasure to celebrate with you the Diamond Jubilee of the WFMH. It has been seventy-five years since its first meeting in London in 1948. This organisation has carried the flag of mental health advocacy on a global level. The letter from King George in 1948 to the Federation highlighted our mission of advocacy and support for mental health in our community, it went beyond the needs of the mentally ill and suggested the Federation would help world citizens live together in peace and a good neighbourliness.
Seventy-five years later, I look back at our achievements and shortcomings. Having inherited from my grandfather the details of that conference, I was able to observe with pride the energy towards a multi-disciplinary approach to mental health care.
The world has evolved over the years adopting the biological model for treatment of mental health problems, but it quickly became clear that without advocacy and anti-stigma efforts, access to care services becomes challenging. The work of the Federation has continued to grow choosing the theme for Mental Health Day since 1993, supporting the needs of immigrants and refugees in the crisis areas and advocating for women in mental health are some of the highlights of our work. We have been able to maintain the voice of people with lived experience of mental disorder in policy and regulation planning. Families and carers have worked actively with the Federation since its inception.
On the academic level, the Federation has organised and participated in over 100 scientific conferences. The current group headed by our president elect is actively working on producing a journal for the Federation, a step we all look forward to. Looking at the coming seventy-five years, the Federation stands on solid grounds of governance and transparency, the work of the secretariat in setting standards for management and procedural activities was essential in maintaining our good relations with the UN and other international agencies.
So congratulations dear friends on this milestone. I send you my best wishes for many more years of success and achievements for WFMH.
Yours sincerely,
Nasser Loza
President WFMH
President Egyptian Society for the Rights of People with mental illness