The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), has convened a team of global mental health experts to prepare a special report on anxiety and depression, to be presented at WISH 2018, in Doha on November 13-14. 
The report was announced at a WISH event at the University of Oxford’s Harris Manchester College recently by Paul Farmer, chair of the WISH Anxiety and Depression Research Group. 
Farmer, who is CEO of Mind, the UK’s leading mental health charity, and who last year co-authored the UK government’s extensive report into mental health in the workplace, was guest speaker at an event that gathered representatives of several organisations that support people facing mental health issues. 
Among the invited guests were Sir Graham Thornicroft, professor, Community Psychiatry at King’s College London; Hutan Ashrafian, chief scientific adviser to Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, executive chair of WISH; alongside representatives of charities and support groups, including Mind, the Samaritans, Restore, and the Oxford Mental Health Network. Student and academic representatives of a number of University of Oxford colleges also took part in the discussions held throughout the event, as did representatives from WISH, led by CEO Sultana Afdhal.
Farmer said, “I’m extremely pleased that WISH has identified anxiety and depression as an issue that needs exploring. In our report, we’re going to look to clearly define the terms anxiety and depression, investigate the scale of the issue, and then look at what can we do to prevent anxiety and depression taking hold. Finally we’re going to look at how innovation can give us some clues about the approaches that individual countries can take when they’re building a policy approach to tackling anxiety and depression.”
Afdhal noted, “At WISH we seek to engage with people who share our commitment to building a healthier world through global collaboration and from time to time we take the opportunity to hold events that give us the chance to engage with new groups of people outside Qatar. I’m pleased that our first ever Oxford event was so well supported; those attending clearly shared a genuine interest in the topic being highlighted.
Two further WISH events will take place in Oxford soon. On Saturday, at Harris Manchester College, Dr Mohamed bin Ghanim al-Ali al-Maadeed, chairman of Qatar Red Crescent, and Dr Mukesh Kapila, professor, Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs at the University of Manchester, will explore the challenges faced by communities and healthcare practitioners in conflict zones around the world. 
On April 16, Dr Mohamed Ghaly from the Research Centre for Islamic Legislature and Ethics will present a public lecture on Islamic ethics and palliative care at the Investcorp Lecture Theatre, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.
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