MEDICC Review’s New Issue Focuses on Mental Health
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) October 30, 2013 -- The new issue of MEDICC Review, Mental Health Matters, is now freely available online. October’s MEDICC Review includes original research, features and commentary on health-system approaches to mental health promotion and the mental disorders still stigmatized and undertreated worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 450 million people suffer from mental disorders, with depression the leading cause of disability worldwide. A recently launched WHO Mental Health Action Plan aims at specific outcomes by 2020, including increasing services for severe mental disorders by 20%, reducing suicide rates by 10%, and incorporating mental health legislation to protect human rights in 50% of countries.
“Science reveals that mental health is undeniably linked to physical wellbeing. Yet, in most health systems, we see a shocking gap between access to care for mental compared to physical health problems, worse for poor or marginalized communities,” said Gail Reed, Executive Editor of MEDICC Review. “There is also an urgent need for better mental health promotion, especially as global population aging increases demand for attention to such conditions as depression and dementias.”
“Mental Health Matters” includes these articles and more:
• Community mental health services in Cuba
• Depression among rural elderly in India
• Approaches to substance abuse in Cuba
• Complex psychology of obesity in young Cubans
The only English-language journal focusing on health and medicine in Cuba and other developing countries, MEDICC Review is an open-access peer-reviewed publication of Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC), Oakland, California, USA. Full-text articles may be freely viewed and downloaded at http://www.medicc.org/mediccreview or accessed through PubMed and other indexing services.
Since 1997, MEDICC has worked to enhance cooperation among the US, Cuban and global health communities aimed at better health outcomes and equity. MEDICC produced the feature film ¡Salud! and publishes the MEDLINE-indexed journal MEDICC Review. MEDICC supports research in Cuba by US health professionals, assists US students and graduates of Havana’s Latin American Medical School to return to US underserved communities, and organizes Community Partnerships for Health Equity to improve health care and access in communities such as South Los Angeles and Oakland, California; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and The Bronx, New York. See: http://www.medicc.org.
Jeannie Barbieri-Low, Medical Education Cooperation With Cuba, http://www.medicc.org, (805) 233-7574, [email protected]
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