Meeting with PAHO on mental health
ORANJESTAD – On May 15, the Ministry of Justice and Social Affairs, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Foreign Affairs met with the PAHO representative for our region, Dr. Gabriel Vivas Franccesconi, accompanied by his team.
The subject of the discussion was mental health and Aruba's response to this issue.
Two years ago, PAHO assisted Aruba with its roadmap design from 2021 to 2023 to address mental health. Aruba has a steering committee of all stakeholders in the field that works on different building blocks, like legislation, financing, professional development of all the professionals in the field, and prevention. The Ministry gave PAHO a detailed presentation of all the steps Aruba is taking on mental health. PAHO feedback was positive on Aruba’s implementation of mental health policy compared to other countries in the region.
Given the developments in Aruba and internationally, Aruba will evaluate the current roadmap with PAHO to adapt it timely, considering it is a policy plan for the next ten years. Aruba held a survey, namely STEPS 2023, that also included mental health aspects. Based on the results, Aruba will draft an action plan to address the various findings brought forward.
The agreement is for PAHO to assist Aruba in professional development. The steering committee will make a needs assessment and based on the results, will approach PAHO for assistance with courses and training for this field. This assistance is not only for the mental health field but is also a multi-sectoral approach for social, judicial, public health, and education.