World leaders in youth mental health gathered for a public online event earlier this month to launch Orygen Global, a new global mental health initiative for young people.
The experts were featured panellists in two free webinars that marked the launch of Orygen Global, a new initiative from Australia’s centre of excellence in youth mental health.
Orygen Global has been created to elevate the importance of youth mental health on national, regional and global agendas, and to partner with communities to design, implement and evaluate youth mental health services that make sense in their contexts.
Orygen executive director Professor Patrick McGorry said Orygen Global sought to change the way the world thinks about young people and their mental health.
“Orygen Global works in partnership with young people as well as local and international organisations – including the World Economic Forum and UNICEF – to assist in the development of local services that meet community needs,” Professor McGorry said.
“Young people should have access to mental health supports when and where they need them.”
Youth mental health experts from Australia, South Africa, Brazil, the UK, India, Hungary and Norway participated in the webinars, which were held at different times to accommodate the international audience.
The distinguished panellists included Professor McGorry; Helen Herrman, immediate past president of the World Psychiatric Association; and Sarah Kline, co-founder and interim CEO of United for Global Mental Health.