Message (Yoshiharu Kim, MD, PhD)

We highly appreciate with great joy that the longstanding efforts of Japanese National Institute of Mental Health to improve community mental health care have developed into international cooperation with the WHO and Asian countries under the strong leadership by Director Chiyo Fujii to promote policy planning, to develop network with local governments as well as to create international cooperation. Although community mental health is a very local and diverse activity according to the characteristics of the region, culture, and country, it has become clear through years of experience, exchange, and research studies that there are in fact common challenges shared by most countries and that it is possible to join forces with each other to overcome these difficulties. Japanese psychiatry developed on the basis of residential care, following the Western psychiatry of the previous era, but the development of a framework open to community care for patients flourished, lagging behind the world trend. For this reason, the development of community mental health care models in Japan has been examined and devised based on the efforts of other countries and our own practices. In particular, a comprehensive community medical care system that includes medical care for the elderly is the culmination of many years of hard work by our predecessors, and the inclusion of mental health care in this system is a noteworthy achievement that has attracted international attention and recognition. I sincerely hope that in the future, through international collaboration, an even better mental health care system will be developed and implemented in Asian countries, allowing people with mental symptoms to live in the community with peace of mind and dignity. I am confident that this website will serve as a strong foundation for achieving this purpose and will develop into efficient international cooperation with the WHO and colleague countries.

Yoshiharu Kim, MD, PhD
Emeritus Director General
National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, JAPAN