"Laughing for good living, embracing for healing and planting to endure" was the preventive message of the Integration Festival that involved pioneers, medical students, health professionals and the entire population of Matanzas in the central activity for World Health Day.
Havana, 12 May 2017 (PAHO/WHO) - In her opening remarks, Dr. Carmen Borrego, Head of the Mental Health Section of the Department of the Elderly, Social Assistance and Mental Health of the Ministry of Public Health, referred to the characteristics of depression, treatment, intersectoral care, and the importance of seeking help, rather than self-medicating. He also urged participants to reach out to those who need a hand, although in Cuba universal access to medical services is guaranteed.
PAHO/WHO consultant, Roxana González, emphasized the importance of such spaces to fight against this condition that affects self-realization, human capacity to contribute to society and carrying out daily activities.
As a culmination of the commemorative day, the scientific workshop on an integrated approach to depression, risk factors and protection, discussed the relationship of depression with violence and alcoholism at the Cuban Artist Artisans Association's theatre. Officials from the National Unit for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (Prosalud), the Provincial Health Directorate, and the local government, as well as representatives from PAHO/WHO office in Cuba were present at the workshop. Mass organizations, culture and art figures, and spokesmen against stigmatization of depression were among other participants.
PAHO Cuba honored the colors of childhood facing depression
The children's drawing contest award ceremony took place in Havana on April 21, as part of the national campaign for World Health Day organized by PAHO/WHO Country Office in Cuba.
Around a hundred children from different provinces of the country participated in this year's contest, which invited to talk about depression as a global problem. Fifteen primary and secondary education children and adolescents, between 9 and 14, received prizes that day.
