title: WHO's work on the epidemiology of mental disorders.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Mental Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sartorius
mesh_terms: 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