EU Presidency Conference on mental health and capacity building workshop

The Ministry of Health of Lithuania held a conference on mental health and suicide prevention on 10-11 October 2013, attended by about 150 stakeholders from around Europe. The conference was organized as part of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

One session focused on the linkages between violence and suicides. Dr Dinesh Sethi from WHO/Europe presented the findings of the European report on preventing child maltreatment and emphasised the importance of adverse childhood experiences as a risk factor for suicides and mental health disorders. The prevention of child maltreatment was emphasised as part of a life course approach to violence and suicide prevention. Dr Robertas Povilaitis, a psychologist in Lithuania, presented ongoing work on school-based violence and bullying prevention in the country. Preventing adversity and violence in childhood was among one of the key conference recommendations.

This was followed by a one day TEACH-VIP (a comprehensive injury prevention and control curriculum) workshop to train trainers in child injury prevention and developing national policy. Materials from TEACH-VIP 2 had been translated into Lithuanian by Professor B. Strukcinskiene and were presented and shared with participants. The workshop was well received, with participants committed to using the materials and methods in their future training. Dr Audronė Astrauskienė, focal point for injury prevention at the Ministry of Health also contributed to the meeting.