Ireland is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest island in the world, with an area of 86 576 km2; it has a total population of slightly under 6 million. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and to the west of Great Britain. The Republic of Ireland covers five-sixths of the island; Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, is in the north-east. Twenty-six of the 32 counties are in the Republic of Ireland, which has a population of 4.2 million, and its capital is Dublin. The other six counties are in Northern Ireland, which has a population of 1.75 million, and its capital is Belfast. In 1973 both parts of Ireland joined the European Economic Community. This article looks at psychiatry in the Republic of Ireland.

Afghanistan's historic strategic position between the great civilisations of India, Persia and Central Asia has made it from the very beginning both a crossroads for trade and cultural exchange and an almost continuous battlefield. In the years since the Soviet invasion in 1979 the country has become the stage of an ongoing complex humanitarian emergency. The period of Soviet occupation was characterised by massive human rights violations. The Soviet army and its allies were involved in indiscriminate bombardments and targeted executions, while the mujahedeen were involved in guerrilla warfare. The USSR was forced to withdraw in 1989 and the remnants of Afghanistan's communist regime were defeated in 1992.

Despite attempts made in recent years to address the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in Mozambique, service provision remains deficient. The present paper focuses on the attitudes to mental illness and its diagnosis and treatment in Mozambique. This paper is based on both a thorough literature search and on the results of qualitative interviews carried out with six individuals of Mozambican origin now living in the UK.

Cambodia is a low-income country in south-east Asia. It covers an area of 181 035 km2 and has a population of 14.5 million, of whom 42% are less than 15 years old. Life expectancy is 56.8 years and 36% of the population live on less than US$0.50 per day. Cambodia experienced a brutal civil war and genocide in the 1970s under the Khmer Rouge regime, during which approximately 1.7 million Cambodians were killed (Chandler, 1999) and the social and medical infrastructure was almost completely destroyed. No mental health services existed throughout the conflict and subsequent Vietnamese occupation, despite the incalculable impact of the Khmer Rouge regime on Cambodians' mental health. The current political situation is more stable, although there remain concerns about human rights abuses (Khan, 2005).

The transition from trainee early career psychiatrist (ECP) to independent practitioner can be challenging. Upon completion of training in well-equipped academic settings, an ECP from Myanmar is required to serve in a divisional hospital for at least 3 years. Significant challenges are faced by ECPs practising solo in divisional hospitals, including inexperience in administrative aspects, lack of future-proof training, scarcity of resources and facilities, struggles in the provision of holistic biopsychosocial treatment, work–life imbalance, and limited career advancement and access to continuous training. The solutions tried thus far include the incorporation of information and communication technology in training, gathering support and distant supervision from both local and international settings, and task shifting. Bigger challenges are often rewarded by faster growth, and difficult times stimulate creative solutions. The sacrifice of these solo ECPs has significantly improved the mental health service of Myanmar district regions.

This paper will focus on the current state of mental health services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and reflect on the various public health, socio-economic and psychosocial factors that have a major impact on the mental health needs of the population. It is to be borne in mind that the services described in this paper are in a state of rapid change, as the country is witnessing one of the fastest rates of development in the world.

The Solomon Islands is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is a low-income country. It comprises nearly 1000 islands with a total land area of 304 000 km2 spread over a sea area of about 1 500 000 km2, making communications, travel and service delivery difficult and creating inequities in access. The population of the Solomon Islands was estimated to be just over 580 000 in 2008, and is young, with 42% aged under 15 years (Solomon Islands Ministry of Health, 2006). The majority of the people are Melanesian (93%) and 98% of the population belong to a Christian church. The population is, though, extremely diverse, with 91 indigenous languages and dialects being spoken, in addition to the Solomon Islands pijin (the most common language) and English (the official national language). Over 83% of the population live in rural areas, where subsistence agriculture, fishing and food gathering are the main sources of income. There is no substantial tourist industry. The gross domestic product (GDP) is US$1.5 billion and annual per capita income is approximately US$2800 (International Monetary Fund, 2009). Total expenditure on health represented 5.6% of GDP but only 1% of the total health budget is allocated to mental health (World Health Organization, 2005).

The Republic of The Gambia, on the west coast of Africa, is a narrow enclave into Senegal (which surrounds the nation on three sides), with a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, enclosing the mouth of the River Gambia. The smallest country on mainland Africa, The Gambia covers 11 295 km2 and has a population of 1705 000. There are five major ethnic groups: Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, Jola and Sarahuleh. Muslims represent 95% of the population. English is the official language but a miscellany of minor languages are also spoken (Serere, Aku, Mandjago, etc.). The Gambia has a history steeped in trade, with records of Arab traders dating back to the ninth century, its river serving as an artery into the continent, reaching as far as Mauritania. Indeed, as many as 3 million slaves were sold from the region during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Gambia gained independence from the UK in 1965 and joined the Commonwealth of Nations.

Ukraine, at 603 700 km2, has the second largest landmass in Europe. It has a population of about 47.4 million. Ukraine is a lower-middle-income country with a gross national income per capita of US$1260 (World Bank, 2002).

This paper concerns mental health services in The Gambia. It describes local concepts, experiences and knowledge about mental illness and the implications of such beliefs and attitudes for access to mental health services. A pretested questionnaire and interview guide were administered to a sample of patients/family members. Barriers to accessing mental health services were identified. These included beliefs about the causes of mental illness; family decision-making; the scarcity and high cost of services. Obtaining access to mental health services in The Gambia is currently challenging. Importantly, increased community and family education about the causes and treatment of mental illnesses will be required to address these issues.

Zambia, previously called Northern Rhodesia, was a colony of Great Britain until 1964, when it gained independence and changed its name. It is a landlocked country located in southern Africa and shares its borders with Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Congo and Angola. It has an area of 752 612 km2, about three times the size of Britain, but a population of only 12 million.

The Russian Federation is a country with an enormous territory, of over 17 million km2. Its population is 141.9 million (2010 figure). The population was declining, especially at the end of the 1990s, but in more recent years the tendency has been towards stabilisation. Life expectancy has remained relatively low, although it has increased somewhat over the past few years, to reach 67.5 years in 2008 (61.4 for men and 73.9 for women), up from 65.3 years in 2004 (58.9 for men and 72.3 for women).

The Netherlands borders the North Sea and is located between Belgium and Germany. Its total area is about 41 500 km2, nearly 34 000 km2 of which is land area. The country consists mostly of coastal lowland and land reclaimed from the sea (polders). An extensive system of dykes and dams protects nearly one-half of the total area from being flooded.

This paper reflects on the development of a capacity-building programme to support a mental health service modernisation pilot project based in the Lviv region of Western Ukraine. National programmes that aim to modernise mental health services now have the experience of other countries on which to draw. The challenges faced by such modernisers have much in common. Nevertheless, although there are lessons to be learned from what has worked well elsewhere, we caution that the local context can have a profound effect on the successful implementation of plans based on best practice.

Brunei Darussalam is a small country in Southeast Asia with a conservative Islamic government and culture. Suicide is a criminal offence under the civil Penal Code and the newly implemented sharia Penal Code. Suicide and mental illness are associated with significant stigma. Public discussion about suicide and mental illness has been considered taboo for many years. Recently, increased rates of media-reported suicides caused significant public alarm. This paper describes the initial steps that have been taken and possible future strategies for suicide prevention. The complex issues affecting suicide prevention in the national context are discussed.

The profound political, social and economic changes that occurred after the end of communist rule in Central Europe in 1989 had a profound influence on Czech psychiatry. In the socialist Czechoslovakia the healthcare system was fully owned, financed and organised by the state, in so-called regional institutes of healthcare. These had obligatory catchment areas of about 100 000 inhabitants and comprised in-patient as well as out-patient care facilities, including psychiatry. The main trends after 1989 were decentralisation of the healthcare system, rapid privatisation, especially of out-patient services, and financing through the newly established health insurance corporations.

The delivery of mental healthcare in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, is influenced by geography, politics, legislation and the structure of the health system, as well as traditional beliefs and culture.

Sri Lanka has faced two major catastrophes in recent history: the civil war (1983–2009) and the tsunami (2004). Furthermore, there is a continuously changing socioeconomic situation which is becoming ever more challenging. Nearly a quarter of the Sri Lankan population is a youth or adolescent, and this age group is particularly vulnerable to adversity. Over the past decade Sri Lanka has acknowledged the need to support these young people and embarked on developing adolescent mental health services, but they require further expansion. This article provides a critical review of the state of current adolescent mental health services in our country and makes suggestions for improvement.

We aim to describe the Australian child and adolescent mental health system, which has its historical origins in the child guidance clinic, with recent efforts at modernisation to meet community needs and major policy innovations, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and expansion of digital/telehealth services. Shared funding/responsibility across commonwealth and state/territory governments has resulted in country-wide variations, allowing innovation but also introducing fragmentation and duplication. The increase in demand outstripping supply (which was exacerbated by workforce shortages resulting from the pandemic), the lack of robust evaluation, and poor service integration (which make navigation difficult for families) are ongoing challenges.

The challenges besetting the Philippine mental health system demand multifaceted, strategic responses to ensure the holistic well-being of Filipino youth. Through the integration of mental health into primary care, augmentation of the professional workforce, bolstering information infrastructure, reforming medication accessibility, augmenting budgetary allocations and invigorating governance, the Philippines can pave the way for an inclusive mental health system that adequately addresses the exigencies of its younger demographic. In doing so, the nation can make substantial strides towards alleviating the negative impacts of adverse social conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on the mental well-being of its youth.