World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD)

The initiation of a World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD) to: 

1. Recognize the global importance of infant, child and adolescent mental health.
2. Advocate for the promotion of mental health and prevention of mental illness in infants, children and adolescents.

23 April 2022 is declared as World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD) by 4 organisations:

Children and adolescents form a third of the world's population. Research has demonstrated that adverse experiences in childhood impact lifelong mental and physical health. Most mental disorders develop in childhood and adolescence (before the age of 25), and one-quarter of disability-adjusted life years for mental and substance use disorders occur in youths. The prevalence of mental disorders continues to rise in the young and is higher than adults. The need to improve understanding of this as well as to create awareness of its importance in families, communities and societies cannot be underestimated.

We propose to initiate a World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD) on 23 April annually to bring global awareness and literacy to this issue and bring the relevant professional agencies committed to this cause together.

The objectives of the World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day (WICAMHD) are to: 

• Improve global public awareness about child and adolescent mental health.
• Create literacy and competencies in the promotion of child and adolescent mental health as well as reduce the stigma of mental disorders in these populations.
• Improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of child and adolescent mental disorders through international cooperation and understanding.
• Reach out to countries with scarce resources to develop child and adolescent mental health professionals. 
   

1. Share the logo widely.
2. Use social media to spread your message about the importance of mental health in the young.
3. Please involve your communications teams and do it on all websites and social media platforms you are on.
4. We suggest the following hashtags.

• #WICAMHD
• #infantchildadolescentmentalhealth
• #worldmindyourheart

To download the marketing flyer, please click here

To download the social media tool, please click here

• Date: Saturday, 23 April 2022
• Time: 1.00 PM CEST | 7.00 AM EST | 7.00 PM (GMT + 8)
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Speakers:
  • Dr Daniel Fung, President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP)
  • Pr Mario Speranza, President of the International Society of Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (ISAPP)
  • Assoc Prof Campbell Paul, President of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH)
  • Assoc. Prof. Vlatka Boričević Maršanić, MD, PhD, Specialist in Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for Children, Adolescents and Parents, Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
  • Dr Liu Jing, Professor and Chief, Director of Mental Health Center for Children, Peking University Institute of Mental Health and Sixth Hospital, China
  • Dr Fusun Cetin Cuhadaroglu, Professor and Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
• Panelist
  • Dr Daniel Fung, President of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP)
  • Pr Mario Speranza, President of the International Society of Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (ISAPP)
  • Assoc Prof Campbell Paul, President of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH)
  • Dr Norbert Skokauskas, Chair of the World Psychiatric Association Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section (WPA-CAP)
  • Prof Yi Zheng, Child psychiatrist, Director of Beijing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center and Professor of Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, China
  • Dr Fusun Cetin Cuhadaroglu, Professor and Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

The recorded webinar is available at the IACAPAP YouTube channel, please click here.