Professor Harvey Whiteford and Dr Alize Ferrari to present Burden due to mental and substance use disorders: An analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 at the 16th International Mental Health Conference being held at QT Hotel, Surfers Paradise Thursday 13 August to Friday 14 August 2015.
The Conference will bring together leading clinical practitioners, academics, service providers and mental health experts to deliberate and discuss Mental Health issues confronting Australia and New Zealand. The Conference theme is Mental Health Future For All with topics across the broad spectrum of mental disorders including Anxiety, Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, Bipolar, Dementia and Suicide.
Abstract Overview
The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010), published in 2012, presented the disability and premature mortality from 291 diseases and injuries and 63 risk factors, across 187 countries. It represented the most comprehensive analysis of disease burden since the original burden estimates were published in 1996. Mental and substance use disorders were the leading cause of disability. GBD 2010 findings not only confirmed that mental and substance use disorders were a global health priority but also identified salient gaps in the epidemiological literature. To incorporate the latest advances in psychiatric epidemiology and burden of disease methodology, and to provide policy-makers with the most representative picture of a population’s health, the burden of disease studies are constantly evolving. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation which led the GBD 2010 is leading the next update of burden estimates (GBD 2013). The Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research is responsible for the data inputs and modelling for the mental and substance use disorder burden estimates. This presentation will discuss the GBD 2013 results, summarising improvements made to the epidemiological datasets and burden estimation methodology. Accurate estimates of disease burden assist in ensuring that health systems are aligned to the population health challenges that confront a country.
Presenter Bios
Professor Harvey Whiteford is Professor of Psychiatry and Population Health, and Director of the Policy and Epidemiology Group at Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR). He trained in medicine, psychiatry and health policy in Queensland and at Stanford University.
Harvey has held senior clinical and administrative positions, including those of Director of Mental Health in the Queensland and Federal governments in Australia, and with the World Bank in Washington DC. His research interests are in epidemiology, mental health policy and service delivery
Dr Alize Ferrari is a research associate for the Psychiatric Epidemiology and Burden of Disease Research (PEABOD) Group based at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR). She holds affiliate positions with the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Her role within PEABOD is to oversee the work undertaken by the group investigating the global epidemiology and burden of mental and substance use disorders.
