Professor Graham Thornicroft
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched new mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guidelines with important contributions from Professors Graham Thornicroft, Martin Prince and Colin Drummond, Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and Centre for Global Mental Health, King's Health Partners. The guidelines are on the management of depression, alcohol use disorders, epilepsy and other common mental disorders in the primary health-care settings in low and middle income countries. Millions of people with common, but untreated, mental, neurological and substance use disorders can now benefit from new simplified diagnosis and treatment guidelines drawn up by 200 specialists from around the world. The Intervention Guidelines extend competence in diagnosis and management to non-mental health specialists including doctors, nurses and other health providers. These evidence-based guidelines are presented as flow charts to simplify the process of providing care in the primary health-care setting. Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization said: 'In a key achievement, the Intervention Guidelines transform a world of expertise and clinical experience, contributed by hundreds of experts, into less than 100 pages of clinical wisdom and succinct practical advice.' Professor Thornicroft, who chaired the Guideline Development Group with Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department, WHO, said: 'These are the first World Health Organisation mental health guidelines for practitioners in low income countries and are a very important step forward to improve care for people with mental disorders worldwide.
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