Aug 22, 2019, In her capacity as a Co-chair of the WHO’s High-Level Commission (HCL) on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Dr. Sania Nishtar was invited to join the opening plenary of 19th WPA World Congress of Psychiatry in Lisbon, Portugal. The World Congress was convened between Aug 21-24, 2019 to discuss how psychiatry can impact some of the most important social challenges facing communities across the globe. Virtually addressing the amazing gathering of 4,000 psychiatric community and mental health experts from 119 countries across the globe, Dr. Nishtar said that WHO’s HCL on NCDs strongly believes that mental health and NCDs are inextricably linked. They share common determinants each of which predisposes and exacerbate one other. She continued, ‘It is a dilemma that people with severe mental illness die 10-20 years early because of NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and unmanaged cancer. This is mainly because of their vulnerability to higher NCD risks such as physical inactivity, smoking, unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol’. The full footage of Dr. Nishtar’s address can be accessed here
