Headquarters WPA Secretariat | ||
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Predecessor Association for the Organization of World Congresses of Psychiatry Formation 1961; 56 years ago (1961) Secretary General Roy Abraham Kallivayalil | ||
The World Psychiatric Association is an international umbrella organisation of psychiatric societies.
Contents
Objectives and goals
Originally created to produce world psychiatric congresses, it has evolved to hold regional meetings, to promote professional education and to set ethical, scientific and treatment standards for psychiatry.
History
Jean Delay was the first president of the Association for the Organization of World Congresses of Psychiatry when it was started in 1950. Donald Ewen Cameron became president of the World Psychiatric Association at its formal founding in 1961. As of 2016, Dinesh Bhugra is president, and Helen Herrman is president-elect.
Structure
As of 2016, the institutional members of the World Psychiatric Association are 138 national psychiatric societies in 118 countries representing more than 200,000 psychiatrists worldwide. The societies are clustered into 18 zones and four regions: the Americas, Europe, Africa & Middle East, and Asia & Australasia. Representatives of the societies constitute the World Psychiatric Association General Assembly, the governing body of the organization. The association also has individual members and there are provisions for affiliation of other associations (e.g., those dealing with a particular topic in psychiatry). There are 72 scientific sections.
Publications
The official publication of the association is World Psychiatry. World Psychiatry and the association's official books are published by Wiley-Blackwell. WPA also self-publishes a quarterly newsletter on its website.
Several WPA scientific sections have their own official journals and newsletters:
Activities
The association has helped establish a code of professional ethics for psychiatrists. The association has also looked into charges regarding China's treatment of the Falun Gong.