What is CAMHSAN?

CAMHSAN (Child and Adolescent Mental Health South Asia Regional Network) is a collaborative initiative that aims to address the child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) needs of South Asia region. CAMHSAN was formed by a group of CAMH experts from various institutions, organizations and associations from 8 countries in South Asia, following an inception workshop held in Kathmandu in 2023, with the support of UNICEF Regional Office South Asia (ROSA). This network represents 8 countries in the SA region including Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

Background

Global estimates suggest that more than 13% of adolescents aged 10–19  years have a mental disorder with an estimated 10–20% of children and adolescents worldwide experiencing mental health challenges, with half of the mental health conditions beginning by age 14. One in four children lived with a parent with a mental health condition. South Asia, comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is home to over 600 million children and adolescents aged 0–19 years. Data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Survey suggest that this region’s adolescent mental health problems range from 10–12%. Looking at the significant impact and burden of CAMH in South Asia region and lack of services for these children, there is an urgent need to act. Thus, a concept of a regional network for child and adolescent mental health was envisioned, which became CAMHSAN.

Mission and Objectives:

Mission:

Initiate and accelerate quality CAMH services at all levels including promotion at schools and in communities in South Asia.

Objectives:

  • Provide thought leadership and direction to governments and partners on over all CAMH service delivery in the region
  • Establish and promote best practices regionally for CAMH programs and services
  • Technical support and training to government, partners, service providers across sectors in South Asia
  • Research and development to drive recommendations for strengthening CAMH services in the region

CAMHSAN Work Plan for the year 2024: 

The CAMHSAN secretariat to be led by Nepal team, office to be held in KIOCH in Nepal for this duration.

The following activities have been planned for 2024,  in collaboration with the CAMHSAN members:

  • Status paper on CAMH in SA region
  • CAMH Mapping and review of CAMH intervention/ Training
  • Workshop to develop a synthesized CAMH intervention/ training package for SA Region.
  • International Conference on Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ICCAMH)
  • CAMHSAN website development
  • Webinars
  • Exploring new projects, grants and networking/ coordinating.

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