Dr. Afzal Javed

Need and Opportunities for Global Research in Mental Health

Biography

Dr. Afzal Javed is a Consultant Psychiatrist & Honorary Professor, Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham & Honorary Associate Clinical Professor at Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick UK. He is also chairman of Pakistan Psychiatric Research Centre & a Board member of Fountain House Lahore. He graduated from King Edward Medical College Lahore, Pakistan and received higher specialised training in Psychiatry in Pakistan & UK. He has served the Royal College of Psychiatrists UK as Deputy & Associate Registrar & Chairman of West Midlands Division of the College.

His role in international psychiatry is highlighted by his current position at World Psychiatric Association (WPA) as President from October 2020 to October 2023. He has also been the Past Presidents of Asian Federation of Psychiatrists Associations (AFPA) from 2017-19 & World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) from 2012-15. His areas of special interest are Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Psychiatric Research. His academic skills have been invaluable when publishing more than 175 scientific papers and being author of six books/monographs on different topics of psychiatry. He recently received one of the highest Civil Award (Sitar -I Imtiaz) by Government of Pakistan.

Abstract

Global mental health is becoming an important discipline and the needs and opportunities for future research have transformed significantly over the many decades because of the higher visibility of the burden of mental health and substance-use disorders. The health, social, economic, and human costs of mental and substance-use disorders are now better documented and help to scale up global mental health care with a special focus on low- & middle-income countries. Current evidence highlights that common mental disorders are responsible for the largest proportion of the global burden of disease; yet, these disorders, as well as severe mental disorders, can be successfully treated using evidence-based interventions delivered even by trained lay health workers or primary care settings.

The majority of those who need care and support for mental health lack access to high-quality mental health services. While efforts are made to address these issues at a service provision level, there is a gap that needs identification of these challenges and priority areas for future research. This paper describes current challenges and opportunities that contributes to these gaps. It is argued that research-to-practice implementation studies are required to diminish the mental health treatment gap and to improve access to high-quality mental health services globally. There is an emerging need that such research recommends policies and scale-up services in the priority areas.