Declaration of the Consortium for
Global Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health
The social, emotional and mental health of infants, children and adolescents is essential for
effective learning and for sustaining healthy and productive societies. Beginning early in life, a
broad range of programs from mental health promotion to early intervention, treatment and care
can provide resiliency and protection. Threats to the mental health of children are recognized
worldwide in the form of exposure to violence, malnutrition, poverty, school failure, disrupted
families, lack of opportunities for self-sufficiency and mental illness.
Despite an increasing body of evidence documenting the objective costs to society of mental ill
health in children and adolescents,1 influential policies and meaningful financial support are
lacking.2 In fact, in some nations, child mental health is suffering due to cutbacks in and a lack
of access to services previously available. This is a critical period in world history when there is
a need to redress past failures and focus with a heightened sense of urgency on a few steps that
can be undertaken globally to improve the mental health status of children and adolescents.
The World Health Organization has documented the absence of programs for social emotional
learning and mental health promotion, as well as services for children with or at risk for mental
disorders worldwide.3 The gaps are universal, but there are obvious differences in countries due
to economic development, historical precedent and impact of current events. Where the number
of children is greatest, the resources are the least! The WHO Atlas demonstrated that long held
beliefs that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ensured a level of access to
preventive programs and care and the fulfillment of a mentally healthy life, and that the training
of primary care clinicians alleviated the need for other service initiatives, were not true. The
absence of infant-, child- and adolescent-focused mental health policy appears to be a significant
limiting factor to the support for promotion, prevention and care.
Lack of a skilled education, counseling and health care workforce hampers the delivery of
needed programs and services. This deficit, coupled with a lag in the ability of primary health
care services to incorporate mental health interventions, and a failure of public health and
education initiatives to highlight mental health issues, has led to continuing gaps in care over
decades despite the clarion call for change to meet needs. In spite of the overwhelming evidence
of cost effectiveness for interventions, such as those for infants at the beginning of life, including
home visiting to benefit both the mother and child in their bonding and to recognize difficulties
in mother-child interaction, policy makers have failed to invest in and provide support for their
implementation at the needed scale. Much more must be done to increase the awareness of
educators concerning the interdependent link between mental health, learning and school success
and the many evaluated programs to address mental health along the continuum.
Imperfections in current diagnostic schema are recognized. A better understanding of the place
of culture in both recognizing and ameliorating pathology is needed. Likewise, recognizing the
1
Mental health problems: the undefined and hidden burden. World Health Organization. (2001). Fact Sheet No. 218.
Retrieved online November 9, 2007: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs218/en/index.html.
2
Mental Health Atlas-2005. World Health Organization. (2005). WHO Press. Geneva, Switzerland.
3
Mental Health Atlas-2005. World Health Organization. (2005). WHO Press. Geneva, Switzerland.
singular importance of schools and the multiple tragedies that result from school dropout must
become part of the public debate. There is a growing concern that a focus on pharmacological
approaches to the care of infants, children and adolescents in the absence of adequate diagnostic
procedures may distort the development of services.4
For the purpose of gaining a consensus on the needed steps, many international organizations
have come together, forming a coalition to advocate for necessary changes in policies and
programs. The Consortium for Global, Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health represents
consumers, professionals across disciplines and a broad range of institutional supporters.5
The Consortium endorses the following recommendations:
4

Recognize a place for the consideration and utilization of child mental health
interventions in international bodies, such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF,
UNESCO, World Bank, International Organization for Migration, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, International Red Cross and Red Crescent, and others which
care for children and adolescents in their daily lives and during the aftermath of war,
natural disaster, and other upheavals. Currently, there is no focal point designated for
infant, child, or adolescent mental health in these organizations.

Foster the development of child and adolescent mental health policy as an integral part of
education, social welfare, health policy and health reform. Many guides to policy
development exist, a most useful one being the WHO publication, Manual on Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Policy Guidance.

Recognize and support inter-sectoral responses to child and adolescent mental health that
help address the social, economic and political determinants of mental health and mental
illness in children and adolescents. Utilize childcare, educational resources, community
education resources and health care promotion initiatives to focus on mental health as an
essential component of health and education awareness.

Recognize and intervene at the earliest possible developmental stage to promote positive
mental health and to avert the consequences of growing up with conditions which
interfere with healthy mental development. The field of infant mental health provides
sophisticated guidance for promoting mental health. Likewise, it is now recognized that
over 50% of all adult mental disorders begin before the age of 14, and many can be
prevented through promotion and intervention, especially through schools.

It is the intention of the Consortium to initiate a Global Infant, Child and Adolescent
Mental Health Report Card. Data will identify continuing gaps in policy, services,
Rational care defines care for children and adolescents as including an appropriate diagnostic process, involvement
of the family, recognition of the child’s environment, the treatment of any disorder in a manner that is based on
efficacy and effectiveness, and the utilization of interventions that do not inappropriately utilize medications.
5
Consortium members: EDC / International Alliance for Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Schools
(INTERCAMHS), International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions
(IACAPAP), International Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology (ISAPP), World Association of Infant
Mental Health (WAIMH), World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH).
educational activities, economic support and report on examples of distortions and crises
in care. Core data for the Report Card will be derived through the resources of
Consortium members, but others are invited to participate in this global initiative.

Further, the Consortium will initiate the free distribution of an annual yearbook
containing articles on best practices, new scientific findings, and systems development.
The Yearbook will be specifically aimed at enhancing the resources of low income
countries.
In the final analysis, the Consortium aims to support promotion and prevention and to alleviate
the suffering of vulnerable infants, children and adolescents so that a variety of sectors and
agencies can become more actively involved in supporting a trajectory for healthy development,
saving untold suffering and costs to individuals, families and societies.
The Consortium seeks to gain a better understanding of the clinical and policy issues that either
impede or support the ability to deliver culturally relevant, responsible and responsive services to
infants, children and adolescents.
A mentally healthy child and adolescent is essential for the future well-being of our societies.
If you’d like to learn more about the Consortium for Global Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental
Health, please contact Cheryl Vince Whitman, Intercamhs Vice President and EDC Senior Vice
President and Director of Health and Human Development Programs, at
cvincewhitman@edc.org.
IACAPAP
ISAPP