Guyana, August 9-12. - As part of the integration of mental health into primary care, the Ministry of Public Health, in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization, conducted a four-day training of trainers workshop focused on WHO's Mental Health GAP Action Programme (mhGAP).
Workshop participants included General Medical Officers from various Health Regions and staff of the Mental Health Unit, who will be facilitating the rolling out of the mhGAP training to a broad set of primary health care providers.
Prior to the training, a session was held with key personnel of the Ministry of Public Health to plan the adaptation of the mhGAP Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG) modules and to develop an implementation plan for integrating the mhGAP into primary health care.
The workshop began with a presentation on the mental health program, analyzing service organization, human resources, and related challenges. Given that the integration of mental health into primary care is one of the country´s priorities, the training was well-received, and there was a lot of enthusiasm among the very active participants.
The event was fully supported by the Minister of Public Health. Dr. Claudina Cayetano, PAHO/WHO Regional Advisor on Mental Health, coordinated the workshop together with Mrs. Karen Roberts, PAHO/WHO Specialist in Non-Communicable Diseases and Family Health in Guyana.
