Child Mental Health Webinar

Every year the World Health Organization observes World Mental Health Day in the month of October. To mark this occasion, the Institute of Global Health Equity Research (IGHER) at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) hosted an event to discuss child and adolescent mental health under the patronage of the Honorable Dr. Tharcisse Mpunga, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Health.

The first part of the event was organized around the Launch of the Rwandan Program and its method to screen the risk of depression among school children. The second part was a webinar that discussed the Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents. This event engaged speakers from the Ministry of Health, WHO, Africa CDC, UGHE, RBC, CHUK, and expert psychiatrists from around the world.

The speakers discussed two important subjects, a reliable and easy-to-use, rapid depression screening tool and the effects of COVID-19 on children and adolescent’s mental health. The event offered an opportunity for speakers to share evidence, promising practices, and lessons learned on children and adolescent mental health in different countries as well as what different institutions are doing to strengthen the leadership and advocacy for children and adolescent mental healthcare.