Disability

Source is aimed at health workers, researchers, rehabilitation workers, non-governmental and governmental organisations and disabled peoples' organisations worldwide and has a unique collection of over 20,000 health and disability related information resources. These include books, manuals, reports, newsletters, posters, videos, and CD-ROMS. It also links to an increasing number of electronic resources including on-line databases and full-text documents on the Internet.

Priorities for research into mental illness in the developing world are not the same as those in the West, writes Katherine Nightingale. There are 450 million people around the world living with a mental disorder.

Deadline for applications: 1 August 2006

St. Marys Home, Bronkhorstspruit, is currently recruiting for students (post graduate students of public health, psychology & other associated fields of study) who wish to gain valuable work experience. Students will be receive a small fee for the work and will gain a wealth of experience in conducting a mapping study.

March is Intellectual Disability Awareness month. The South African Federation for Mental Health, of which Cape Mental Health is an affiliate, will embark on an awareness campaign highlighting the Human Rights of people with Intellectual Disability. Intellectual Disability is caused by brain damage or poor brain development, which causes people to learn and to develop slower than others.

WASHINGTON - About 8 million children worldwide are born every year with serious birth defects, many of them dying before age 5 in a toll largely hidden from view, the March of Dimes says. Most birth defects occur in poor countries, where babies can languish with problems easily fixed or even prevented in wealthier nations, according to research released Monday by the organization. But the researchers said some innovative programs in Iran and Chile show that effective preventions don't have to be costly.

The UN announced this year's theme for December 3rd, the International Day of Disabled Persons is Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Action in Development. The goal is to highlight the interdependence between the rights of people with disabilities and the development process, with the knowledge that full societal inclusion of people with disabilities and the enjoyment of our fundamental rights and freedoms on an equal footing with all other members of our society are essential to the achievement of development goals.

One in five South Africans suffer from a mental disorder severe enough to affect their lives significantly, the Medical Research Council has revealed. October is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental illness is wide-spread and often undiagnosed, with the World Health Organisation estimating that 450-million people worldwide suffer mental illness.

Down Syndrome South Africa in partnership with DICAG, SAFMH, SAHRC, DEPT OF HEALTH and the OSDP are proud to present our 2nd Southern African Conference on Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disabilities. At the Birchwood Conference Centre, Johannesburg.

Smoking cannabis virtually doubles the risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, researchers say.