North East England South Asia Mental health Alliance (NEESAMA): an exemplar of global north and global south collaboration to improve research, training and service delivery in mental healthcare

Meetali Devgun; Caitlin Kittridge; Shekhar Seshadri; Jacqueline Rodgers; Aditya Narain Sharma

doi:10.1192/bji.2023.22

North East England South Asia Mental health Alliance (NEESAMA): an exemplar of global north and global south collaboration to improve research, training and service delivery in mental healthcare

BJPsych Int. 2023 Nov;20(4):92-95. doi: 10.1192/bji.2023.22.

Authors

Meetali Devgun¹, Caitlin Kittridge², Shekhar Seshadri³, Jacqueline Rodgers⁴, Aditya Narain Sharma⁵

Affiliations

¹ Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences, Krea University, Bengaluru, India.
² Psychology Placement Student, School of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
³ Emeritus Professor, SAMVAD (Support, Advocacy and Mental Health Interventions for Children in Vulnerable Circumstances and Distress), National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.
⁴ Professor of Child Psychology, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
⁵ Clinical Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Email: [email protected].

Abstract

Despite the worldwide burden of mental illness and recent interest in global approaches to address this, progress on increasing awareness, lessening stigma, reducing the treatment gap, and improving research and training in mental health has been slow. In 2018, the North East England South Asia Mental health Alliance (NEESAMA) was developed as a collaboration between high-income (global north) and low- to middle-income (global south) countries to address this slow progress. This paper outlines how the joint priority areas for research, training and service delivery were identified across the life course (child and adolescent, adults and older people) between partner organisations spanning Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UK. It describes the progress to date and proposes a way forward for similar alliances to be forged.

Keywords: Global mental health; adult; child and adolescent; collaboration; older people.

Publication types

Review