WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY WAS CELEBRATED AT THE UNIVERSITY IN ZENICA

"A global priority for all" is the slogan of this year's Mental Health Day, which is traditionally celebrated around the world on October 10 every year. On this occasion, today in the amphitheater of the Faculty of Medicine in Zenica, as part of a ceremony aimed at increasing the population's awareness of what preventive interventions in mental health work and how each of us can get the necessary mental health care, certificates were awarded to the first generation of children and adolescent psychotherapists and certificates of systemic family counselors from social institutions. Certificates were awarded to 35 graduates from more than 20 local communities, and were solemnly presented by Mr. Goran Čerkez and Prof. Dr.Sc. Harun Hodzic.

The ceremony was organized as part of the Mental Health Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is supported by the Government of Switzerland and implemented by the Institute for Population and Development in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Republic of Srpska.

Head of the Health Department of the Embassy of Switzerland in BiH, Laurent Ruedin, says that in the past 10 years, the Swiss Government has provided 26 million KM for the reform of mental health care in BiH.

"We are convinced that investing in the health of the country's inhabitants is in fact investing in the development of that country. The results are extraordinary because over 95,000 people in Bosnia and Herzegovina receive services provided in 74 mental health centers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Ruedin.

Prof. Ph.D.Sc. Jusuf Duraković, rector of the University of Zenica, thanked and congratulated the Federal Ministry of Health, the Embassy of Switzerland and the Faculty of Medicine for the implementation of this project, and pointed out that it is an indicator of the competence of our Faculty of Medicine, which can provide such services to the wider community.