Celebrating 10 years promoting mental health globally 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS Welcome note It is our great pleasure to share with you a summary of our achievements for the first ten years As we reflect on a decade of ground-breaking research and capacity building at the Centre of existence of the Centre for Global Mental Health. for Global Mental Health, it becomes clear that the Centre has achieved a truly global reach and the impact of its work is unrivalled throughout the world. The Centre was founded as, and remains, a collaboration between the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, and the London School of Hygiene This inspiring and challenging work, carried out in countries where health systems are greatly & Tropical Medicine. The complementary strengths of these two institutions create a unique under-resourced and populations underserved, has contributed to a transformation in the discipline environment for a diverse range of research and a rich learning experience. of Global Mental Health and achieved an impact that could not have been predicted ten years ago. This first decade of the Centre has mirrored huge progress in the area of Global Mental Health. With its focus on capacity building, education, and research, the Centre for Global Mental Health We can proudly claim to have had members of the Centre at the heart of many of these developments. maintains its reputation as a world leader in Global Mental Health and hopefully will continue to make Their pioneering research, high quality teaching, outspoken advocacy and leadership have largely a global impact in the years to come, especially in those parts of the world where help is most needed. contributed to the field of Global Mental Health as it is today. Professor Edward Byrne AC President and Principal, This foundation has opened many opportunities, and our aspiration is that the Centre will King’s College London continuously contribute to shaping Global Mental Health. We hope to serve a new generation of academics and practitioners in the field – ultimately improving the quality of life of the most disadvantaged people affected by ill mental health around the world. The Centre for Global Mental Health has played an essential role in laying a strong foundation With best wishes, for Global Mental Health over the past 10 years. From first coining the term ‘Global Mental Health’ to publishing landmark studies that identify core strategies for reducing the treatment gap, the Centre has provided leadership in defining the field and responding to the critical research needs. Research carried out across our wide network of global collaborators have demonstrated cost- effective strategies to improve patient outcomes and have a meaningful impact on quality of life. However, we are at a crucial point in the evolution of the field. For Global Mental Health research to have a marked effect, it will require a substantial increase in investment and a shift in gear to achieve scaled implementation. Professor Peter Piot, KCMG The rise in public and political interest in mental health represents a great opportunity for mental Director, London health to realise its potential to contribute to wider global health and well-being. The Centre School of Hygiene is well placed to build on its past achievements. Through its research, teaching and policy Professor Ricardo Araya Dr Ritsuko Kakuma Dr Julian Eaton & Tropical Medicine engagement, I am confident that the Centre will be in the forefront of accelerating change, Director, Centre for Director, Centre for Director, Centre for as we move into what is going to be an exciting next phase of growth in this emerging and Global Mental Health Global Mental Health Global Mental Health important field. 2 | Centre for Global Mental Health Centre for Global Mental Health | 3 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS We are delighted to be part of the 10th colleagues, richly recognised in the pages of Foreword from anniversary celebrations for a Centre that this report, who led the Master’s programme, Founding Directors we conceived back in 2009. Initially, this the impressive research portfolio and nurtured was about formalising collaborative links that the Centre’s community. Professor Martin existed between research groups at King’s and Prince and Professor LSHTM for some time. Our immediate goal We certainly never took it for granted that the Vikram Patel was to build on our successful partnership in Centre would have achieved what it has over running a module of Global Mental Health by the past 10 years. There have been and will launching a new MSc in Global Mental Health, continue to be many challenges. Over the years, the first of its kind, as a joint venture drawing on there has been a strategic shift at both of our complementary strengths from both institutions. institutions towards recruiting senior academics But the Centre was about much more than who live and work in low- or middle-income that – as we outlined in the 2007 Lancet Series countries (e.g. Ethiopia, South Africa, Uganda, on Global Mental Health. It seemed to us that Zimbabwe, and India). As Northern institutions a partnership which leveraged the world-class respond to concerns about the colonial hang-over academic leadership in global health and mental which pervades the practice of the field of Global health in these two institutions would create an Health, this shift which explicitly acknowledges unparalleled opportunity to address the pressing that academics must have sustained experience challenges facing Global Mental Health. of the contexts in which we work is an important guiding principle; it is also an important Reviewing this summary of the Centre’s mechanism for retaining and building capacity contributions in research, policy, education, where it is most needed. training and advocacy one is struck by how far the field has developed, and the role of the Jeffrey Sachs informed us, wisely, at the launch Centre in catalysing some of this change. The of the Lancet’s 2007 Global Mental Health first thing to note is that the Centre has not Series that what we needed was a ‘mental and could not do this alone. Indeed, equitable health mosquito net’ and the five P’s – Problem partnerships with other institutions has been (identification), Packages, Programmes, our signature principle. We are now part of Partnership, and Patience. Our Packages remain a network, spun across Latin America, Africa, to be translated into implementation-ready Tariro neGitare from the Creative Arts Hub Zimbabwe and South Asia, with important links to Programmes, and we need to be part of the project, in Harare, Zimbabwe – Principal Investigator: institutions in North America, Europe and Partnerships that plan, deliver, monitor and Prof Melanie Abas, Funder: The Cultural Institute, King’s Australia. The Centre is proud to have played evaluate them. And while Patience is a virtue, College London. Photo credit: Leo Zaidi and Clint Frift Foreword a part in so many of these initiatives, to have led the need is great! Congratulations to all at some, convened others, and supported all of them CGMH on this outstanding programme of to the best of our abilities. Equally importantly, work, and our warm best wishes to you and The Centre’s founding Directors were Prof mention should be made of Dr Mary De Silva, we acknowledge the outstanding efforts of our all of our partners for the coming decade. Vikram Patel and Prof Martin Prince, who who was Deputy Director at LSHTM alongside recognised the value of collaboration between Prof Melanie Abas at King’s, and was pivotal two centres of excellence with complementary during the Centre’s early years, steering many strengths; the London School of Hygiene of the important research projects and supporting & Tropical Medicine, and the Institute of the young team, especially at Mental Health Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at Innovation Network (MHIN). Dr Alex Cohen was King’s College London. The founding of the the founding director of the Centre’s Masters in Centre coincided with tremendous growth in the Global Mental Health. The MSc was the first of its field of Global Mental Health, and as this report kind, and it remains a very successful programme. demonstrates, our members and collaborating Under his direction, it became an important partners have been at the forefront of its foundation for the careers of over 200 students. development, paving the way for the production of excellent research, the training of emerging The Centre continues to evolve and grow. leaders in research, and the implementation While LSHTM and King’s are in London, of innovative ideas. The result has been the the Centre is a global community, working recognition of mental health as an essential across four continents, with many international contributor to global health and well-being. research and implementation partners. Their commitment to our common vision of improving The success of any collaboration is a result of the well-being of populations around the the collective contribution of many people, and world, often working in the most challenging this report is a celebration of the achievements of environments, remains the inspiration for of too many to name individually. Particular the Centre for Global Mental Health. 4 | Centre for Global Mental Health Centre for Global Mental Health | 5 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS 10 YEARS OF SUCCESS Centre for Global Mental About us The Centre for Global Mental Health seeks to address the health and social inequities experienced by Health in numbers hundreds of millions of people with mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) conditions globally. The most striking inequity is that concerning the disparities in provision of care and respect for human rights of people living with mental conditions between rich and poor communities within and across countries.