The COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous burden on health care systems all over the world. Unfortunately, mental health services have also been severely affected. This is evident in reduced resource allocation and downsizing of many mental health services or even closing of services worldwide1-4.
The WPA has been reviewing its Action Plan 2020-20235 in the light of the pandemic. The plan is already underway, and the Executive Committee has met several times to finalize any changes needed. The success of the implementation of the Action Plan is largely dependent on the well-coordinated interaction of all components of the WPA structure. We have, unfortunately, faced several difficulties for the functioning at our Secretariat due to lockdown and other COVID-19-related problems. However, we are confident that the Association will successfully overcome the difficulties associated with this critical period.
The WPA General Assembly adopted the Association’s Code of Ethics for Psychiatry in October 20206. The Code was developed by the Standing Committee on Ethics and Review with contributions from psychiatric societies worldwide. The Code now stands as the WPA's official statement on the ethics of psychiatry. It is not meant to replace national codes of ethics, which can better address local circumstances of each country and incorporate local sociocultural values. The WPA is asking its Member Societies to endorse the Code's principles and to confirm that their codes are not in conflict with the Association's general principles.
The WPA has established 16 working groups to address the six priorities of its Action Plan 2020-2023: capacity building; public mental health; child, adolescent and youth mental health; addressing comorbidity in mental health; partnerships with other professional and non-governmental organizations; and continuation and completion of the previous Action Plan’s work. Each of these groups has developed terms of reference and identified projects for the future7.
Among the current priorities, public mental health continues getting particular attention. The WPA aims to promote an increasing understanding of public mental health among professionals and the public, including collaboration with patient and family organizations8, 9.
Our program of scientific meetings is now in full swing. In December 2020, we held the first virtual Thematic Congress on Intersectional Collaboration under the theme “Psychological trauma: global burden on mental and physical health”. Presentations from the meeting are now available on our website (www.wpanet.org). The WPA’s first-ever virtual World Congress of Psychiatry was held in March 2021, with a wonderful program of interactive sessions and world-class speakers. It was an engaging and fulfilling experience. We also held recently a virtual Regional Congress organized by the Russian Society of Psychiatrists. The 21st World Congress of Psychiatry is taking place virtually from 18 to 21 October 2021.
The WPA membership is familiar with the courses we usually run during World Congresses. A key part of our educational program appears now as a learning management system and educational portal on our website10. The portal was launched at the beginning of 2021. It now houses many educational resources, including our COVID-19 Resource Library. To celebrate the launch of the education portal, our membership is eligible to register free for any of the online education courses taking place over the coming year.
Just like in our in-person courses, there will be activities, discussion, and opportunities for interaction, and those who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate of participation. This opportunity is a valuable addition to an already outstanding scientific agenda, and we are grateful to our colleagues who are contributing their time and expertise to this new program. All courses from the online education program will eventually be available on the WPA education portal.
This year, a selection of new and updated resources has been added to the portal, including courses on tele-psychiatry and evidence-based psychotherapies. Also available on the portal is our exceedingly popular Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Against Women curriculum. The portal has now been updated to be more interactive, with presentations, reading lists, teaching points and quizzes. We will be working over the next months to update the other language versions as well. It is our hope that this new portal will not only facilitate further education in psychiatry, but will encourage and inspire learning among colleagues and trainees around the world.
The WPA keeps on helping its membership to develop an effective and rapid response to requests for support for policy issues. The recent response to the Ukraine crisis exemplifies the collaboration between the Association and Member Societies in this regard11. This serves as a model for future work of a similar nature, and of how organizations with a different profile can work successfully to help improve treatment and care for people living with mental disorders.
The WPA’s Scientific Sections continue to be at the forefront of bringing diversity to the work of the Association. Furthermore, members from Sections are actively involved in teaching, training and research programmes focused on the objectives of WPA's Action Plan12-14. Some examples from this work include the activities of the Early Career Psychiatrists Section, collecting the views of early career psychiatrists on their role in clinical practice, and supporting them in utilizing current and future psychiatric classification systems across the world15, 16.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world as we knew it. The WPA is mindful that the continuous global spread of the infection is increasing risk of developing mental disorders, relapse of existing mental disorders and poor mental health, in addition to impacting the work of mental health services. We are hopeful that the WPA will continue generating interest among all its components to develop strategies for future work. We are optimistic that we will receive support, active input, and advice from our membership in addressing our targeted priorities and making a real difference in mental health.
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