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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Sixteen years of advancing mental health in a post-conflict country: Achievements of the Mental Health Association of Cambodia (2009 to 2025)

Sixteen years of advancing mental health in a post-conflict setting: achievements of the mental health association of cambodia (2009-2025)

Over sixteen years, the Mental Health Association of Cambodia has contributed to a substantial increase in mental health service utilization in the country through workforce training, expansion into primary care, and international collaborations.

The study aims to document the achievements of the Mental Health Association of Cambodia (MHAC), together with its national and international partners, over a sixteen-year period. Data were extracted from the association's official records, annual reports, training documents from 2009 to 2025, and the Ministry of Health's 2025 reports. In 2026, the association reached 65 members, comprising psychiatrists, nurses, midwives, psychologists, and social workers; it has been a member of the Asian Federation of Psychiatric Associations (AFPA) since 2009 and the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) since 2011. More than 200 primary care workers across six provinces were trained, contributing to a 197% increase in mental health service utilization within the public health system (from 94,893 visits in 2023 to 282,615 visits in 2024). Collaborations were established with the Ministry of Health, provincial health departments, and international partners such as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) and Capital Medical University in Beijing, and the association was represented at WPA and AFPA congresses. The authors report that workforce training, service expansion, policy advocacy, and international collaboration have been key contributions in a post-conflict, lower-middle-income country, and that continued investment, including in regional partnerships, is needed to sustain these gains.

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