Experts attending one of the sessions during the summit.
Doha, Qatar: The Sixth Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit featured important sessions and workshops during which health ministers, leaders of international organisations concerned with mental health, experts and specialists addressed key topics related to the summit’s main themes, aimed at advancing mental health care worldwide.
The summit is held under the patronage of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani with significant international representation.
In the plenary session on accountability in child and adolescent mental health, speakers highlighted the mechanisms needed to ensure that commitments are translated into concrete actions and have a real impact on the mental health of children and young people.
Assistant Professor at the College of Education at Qatar University, former Dean of the College of Education and Founder of the Wellbeing Centre, H E Sheikha Dr Hessa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani delivered an important presentation on restoring an authentic culture of recovery. She spoke about the concept of a recovery culture and how recovery and attention to mental health form the foundation of mental health care.
Assistant Professor at College of Education at QU, former Dean of College of Education and Founder of the Wellbeing Centre HE Sheikha Dr Hessa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani
The summit also featured a plenary session entitled: “From Global Commitment to National Actions: Core Messages and Implications of the United Nations High Level Meeting of Non-Communicable Diseases”.
Speakers at the session included Deputy Prime Minister for Human Development and Minister of Health and Population of the Arab Republic of Egypt H E Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar; Minister of Health of the Kingdom of Bahrain H E Dr Jaleela bint AlSayed Jawad Hasan; World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean region Dr Hanan Balkhy; and Undersecretary of the Department of Health of the Republic of the Philippines Dr Mary Ann Palermo Maestral.
The speakers reviewed the key outcomes of the United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting, held earlier in September, which highlighted mental health as a central issue. The plenary session aimed to encourage and motivate member states to translate the declarations of the UN High-level Meeting into concrete actions for implementation.
The ministerial summit featured a rich programme of sessions and events, including two panel discussions and six workshops, in addition to a number of side activities. Officials, policymakers and specialists discussed urgent mental health issues in order to develop global strategies. The summit brought together 64 local and international speakers.
