20. Congress of The South African Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions-SA-ACAPAP

As workers, carers, researchers and stakeholders in the field of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) we find ourselves committed not only to a deeper understanding of childhood and adolescence – its joys, infinite possibilities and perils, but also to contributing to the improvement of the lives of young people through evidence-based interventions, supporting education, fortifying families and fundamentally protecting the trajectory of development. We recognise that development starts in utero and is supported every step of the way by children being in relationship: to their parents, their families, their communities and the societal infrastructure encompassing them. While accepting that aspects of childhood and adolescent development are genetically predetermined, as those invested in CAMH, we further acknowledge that the first one thousand days of children’s lives could hold the key to unlocking much of their life-long potential; recognizing that these formative years not only require adequate healthcare, but mental health care. This care needs to be accessed from a platform of good nutrition, good quality childcare and nurturing, a clean and safe environments, early learning and stimulation.

Adolescence too is a watershed period in a young person’s life. With advancing growth and extensive developmental shifts, comes an increased susceptibility to mental health problems. Peer exposure, educational stability and environmental integrity present as key contributors to health and adolescent growth.

South Africa is not immune from the environmental perils emerging and highlighted since the turn of the century. A water-scarce country, we rely on dwindling resources for energy creation and are immersed in rampant inequitable consumption and wastage in some sectors of society, alongside harrowing insufficiencies in others. As a country, and continent, we are invested in the need for continuous action towards change; change as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the beginning of 2016. The SDGs provide a globally adopted universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace, health and prosperity.

Recent population statistics release by Stats SA show that our population is growing. Currently the population under 15 years old sits at 29,5% of the nearly 58 million South Africans. This suggests that nearly a third of our population is developmentally vulnerable. With this vulnerability comes a potential risk to mental health. We know that mental health difficulties contributes to 25% of the world’s levels of disability; that they are associated with school failure, problems with social integration and risks for perpetuation in adult mental health difficulties. Protection of child and adolescent mental health necessitates that the child or adolescent supported by a lattice of developmental input; be it psychological, sensory, physical, educational, social or medical. Yet it is perilously few children and adolescents who find themselves recognised and understood within this framework.

The mental health, and accompanying development of children and adolescents needs to be a priority, to be protected, and to be sustained, in order for there to be a real possibility of making the sustainable development goals (SDGs) a reality. Poverty alleviation, environmental preservation, gender equity and commitment to education, to name but a few, need at their core an adaptable, striving, mindful and resourceful “child force”. It is incumbent upon us at the forefront of CAMHS to take up the mantle of ensuring the provision acceptable mental health care for children and adolescents in our country, and on the continent.

We, as SA-ACAPAP, PANDA-SA and SAISI, invite you to join us for this our 20th Biennial Congress; to learn from cutting edge academics, scientists and clinicians, to ask the seemingly unanswerable questions and to continue to take a pragmatic look at how we can implement best, evidence-based practice in a sustainable and ethical way. Here we intend to commit to a Charter for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and explore the adequacy of our legacy as organizations in South Africa, the Continent and the Globe.

Warmest regards

Wendy Duncan

President SAACAPAP and Convenor SAACAPAP 2019

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