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Dr Vikram Patel conferred with prestigious John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
"This prize is a recognition of the tremendous effort of innovators in low resource settings to transform our understanding of mental health problems and to innovate ways in which we can address these problems in contexts where there are very few resources"
New Delhi: TheĀ Gairdner FoundationĀ recently announced the 2019 Canada Gairdner Award laureates, recognising Boston-basedĀ VikramĀ Patel for his research career raising the global profile of mental health problems.
Patel has been awarded the 2019, John Dirks,Ā Canada Gairdner Global Health AwardĀ for his world-leading research in global mental health, generating knowledge on the burden and determinants of mental health problems in low-and-middle-income countries and pioneering approaches for the prevention and treatment of mental health in low-resource settings.
Each year, seven Canada Gairdner Awards are presented to honour the world's most significant biomedical and global health researchers. The John DirksĀ Canada Gairdner Global Health AwardĀ recognizes a contribution to health in the developing world. Laureates receive a $100,000 cash honorarium and will be formally presented with their awards on October 24, 2019, at the annual Canada Gairdner Awards Gala inĀ Toronto.
"This prize is a recognition of the tremendous effort of innovators in low resource settings to transform our understanding of mental health problems and to innovate ways in which we can address these problems in contexts where there are very few resources," said Patel.
Patel is theĀ Pershing SquareĀ ProfessorĀ of Global Health andĀ Wellcome TrustĀ Principal Research Fellow, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine,Ā HarvardĀ Medical School; Professor,Ā HarvardĀ TH Chan School of Public Health; HonoraryĀ ProfessorĀ of Global Mental Health,Ā CentreĀ for Global Mental Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Adjunct Professor,Ā CentreĀ for Chronic Conditions and Injuries, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi; Co-founder, Sangath, India
He has dedicated his research career to raising the global profile of mental health problems through: epidemiological research demonstrating the burden ofĀ mentalĀ disordersĀ in low and middle-income countries, their strong association with poverty and with other public health priorities, such asĀ HIVĀ and child growth and development; and intervention research in which he has applied a systematic approach to the design, delivery, and evaluation of contextually appropriate psychosocial interventions provided by lay and community health providers.
This has included the primary care treatment of depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders, the community-based care of people withĀ schizophreniaĀ and autism, and the prevention and treatment of adolescent mental health problems through school-based interventions.
Much of his work has been done in partnership with Sangath, an Indian NGO he Co-founded in 1996.Ā SangathĀ is one of India's leading community-based research organisations which won the MacArthur Foundation International Prize for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2008 and the WHO Public Health Champion ofĀ IndiaĀ prize in 2016.
SangathĀ is a pioneer in training lay people to deliverĀ healthcare treatmentsĀ and interventions to their communities and works closely with Dr Patel's academic institutions. Patel also Co-founded theĀ CentreĀ for Global Mental Health and the Mental Health Innovations Network (at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and the Movement for Global Mental Health, the largest global network of individuals and organizations advocating for promoting services and human rights for people living with mental health problems.
In 2018, he co-founded the GlobalMentalHealth@HarvardĀ initiative which is developing a suite of innovative, inter-disciplinary, initiatives aimed at implementing and generating knowledge to transform mental health globally.
The Impact: As recently as 10 years ago, it was difficult to even imagine mental health problems being considered as a global health priority; today, the situation is radically different with considerable attention from a diverse range of global health stakeholders, backed by resources, being focused on mental health, particularly in disadvantaged and low resourced contexts. Patel's work and leadership have played a critical role in making this happen.
Patel's research has challenged many of the myths surrounding mental health problems in the global context, demonstrating that these problems are universal forms of human suffering. There is a vicious cycle of deprivation and poor mental health; that mental health problems profoundly affect the physical health and well-being of affected persons; that psychosocial interventions can be effectively delivered by widely available and affordable community-based providers; and that the human rights of people with mental health problems to access quality care and to a life with dignity are global concerns.
This work and his leadership has made significant contributions to the establishment of the field of global mental health, with priority research, teaching, policy and practice agendas, for example the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health research initiative, the World Health Organization's flagship mhGAP program on mental health and India's first national mental health policy.
Medical Dialogues Bureau consists of a team of passionate medical/scientific writers, led by doctors and healthcare researchers.Ā Our team efforts to bring you updated and timely news about the important happenings of the medical and healthcare sector. Our editorial team can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.