WHO's work on the epidemiology of mental disorders.
The WHO programme on epidemiology of mental disorders started in the early 1960's with a series of reviews of knowledge. These were followed by activities aiming at four main goals: the standardization of psychiatric diagnosis, classification and statistics; the development of standardized internationally applicable instruments for the assessment of mental patients and of variables relevant to the assessment of mental illness; the conduct of epidemiological studies of mental disorders; and the training relevant to the above goals. The paper provides a description of the activities undertaken to achieve these goals and stresses the importance and usefulness of the collaboration of individuals, experts and institutions all over the world in this effort.
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Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011570:Psychiatry; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014944:World Health Organization