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WELCOME ADDRESS
Welcome address
Let's exchange knowledge
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is with great honour and pleasure that we welcome
you to Berlin for the 17th World Congress of Psychiatry
2017.
The World Psychiatric Association (WPA) is commit-
ted to improving the health care of psychiatric patients
through raising the standards of training, education
and clinical practice by providing added value. This
Congress will be an excellent opportunity to share
academic and clinical developments and research and
to build on social interactions and support each other.
Needless to say, in the current period of the 21st centu-
ry psychiatry is at a point where biological, social and
psychological factors are changing rapidly, and their
interaction provides us with opportunities to take the
profession forward. Apart from being the most com-
plex, intellectually stimulating and rewarding medical
speciality, psychiatry is at a stage where we are begin-
ning to understand more about brain changes and their
impact on an individual's functioning. In addition, we
are starting to better understand cultural and social
factors and how they provide possible explanations
for our understanding of our patients' experiences and
those of their families.
Several countries across the globe provide innovative
services in spite of limited resources. This congress
provides a showcase for such developments and how
we can learn from each other by sharing experiences
and lessons. This World Congress is an ideal opportu-
nity to take stock of the state of psychiatry in the 21st
century and the direction of future developments.
You can look out for highlights include Plenaries by Sir
Michael Marmot on Social Determinants, Sir Anand
Satyanand on Human Rights, Bruce Cuthbert on the Re-
search Domain Criteria (RDoC) project and other lead-
ing experts will discuss the future of psychopathology.
Prabha Chandra from India's leading mental health
centre NIMHANS will talk about the special character-
istics of women's mental health and sex-specific treat-
ment approaches. Sir Michael Meaney, neurobiologist
and leader in the field of epigenetics, will give a lecture
about the genetic and epigenetic basis of differential
susceptibility to adversity. Linda C. W. Lam, expert in
dementia, will discuss life styles, mood and cognition
in old age.
I am sure that you will have discovered many other
events in the programme. We wish you interesting, in-
sightful congress days and a productive professional as
well as social exchange.
Dinesh Bhugra, United Kingdom
WPA President (2014–2017)