Les liaisons fructueuses - RUIG-GIAN

Why is the link between legislation and mental health
issues so important ?
People with mental disorders face an alarming range
of human rights abuses in countries throughout the
world, yet there are proven ways to improve the
situation. The World Health Organization (WHO)
has defined health as “a state of complete physical,
mental, and social well-being, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity”. We have ascertained
that many countries do not have effective legislation
in place to protect persons suffering from mental
disorders. However, the right to health places upon
governments and public health authorities positive
obligations to put in place policies, programmes, legislation
and other measures to ensure access to good
quality health services for all. The aim of our project
was to analyse the link between the human rights of persons
suffering from mental disorders and the legislation
that countries have (or have not) put in place to protect
those persons. Legislation represents an important
means of offering protection to people with mental
health problems. We wanted to conduct in-depth research
on that question and present policy-relevant
recommendations to WHO member states in order
to address this issue. We also hoped to develop materials
and training courses in the area of human rights
to support countries in a practical way to improve
their mental health legislation.
How did the partners collaborate in the project ? Who
coordinated the project ?
Project partners basically formed two groups. A
core group of team members, namely Dr. Funk,
Ms. Drew of WHO and Dr. Chastonay and Dr. Kabengele
of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), met
on a regular basis, which proved indispensable both
in terms of the smooth running of the project, technically
and administratively, and keeping abreast of
the progress being made on the different components
of the project. A second broader group included
the other partners, not only experts of the
two main organisations but also external experts
of a number of other institutions both in Geneva
and abroad. We had regular coordination meetings,
regularly with the core group and on an ad hoc basis,
as required, with the broader group. Meetings of the
core group were steering meetings, whose function
was to ensure that project activities were heading in
the right direction. However, no major change of
direction resulted from these core meetings, since
we had carefully designed our project in advance
and partners’ interests converged. From the beginning,
we considered each one’s expertise an added
value to the project.
How did the interdisciplinary nature of the project
affect the results ?
Our project required from the beginning the knowledge
of experts from various disciplines, ranging from
psychiatrists and public health specialists to human
rights experts and lawyers. Strong interaction between
these disciplines was crucial during the whole project.
As an example, drafting the “WHO Resource Book on
Mental Health, Human Rights and Legislation” that
resulted from the project required a wide scope of expertise,
ranging from public health professionals to human
rights experts, lawyers and experts in forensic psychiatry.
The Resource Book brings together information on international
human rights standards related to mental
health and provides practical guidance on key issues
that countries need to consider and incorporate into
their national mental health laws, as well as useful
strategies to facilitate the development, adoption and
implementation of the laws. Achieving this required
a very interdisciplinary approach.
What were the major challenges that you faced ?
What do you view as the most enriching aspects of the
project ?
One of the major challenges for WHO concerned
the Resource Book and its translation into nine languages.
The difficulty consisted in finding precise
and accurate terms, in particular regarding legal terminology.
For example, it was difficult to translate
both the concept and vocabulary to express “community
care” into Russian.
Managing administrative issues was quite a challenge.
The fact that the GIAN’s team was at hand to provide
help and guidance was an important factor in the
smooth running of the project. They were available to
help project partners overcome administrative hur-
Health, Human Rights and Legislation: A Special Focus on Mental Health
Coordinator : Philippe Chastonay
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