On 18 August, the Alan J. Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health again celebrated the life and work of Prof. Alan Flisher with the Annual Memorial lecture in his honour. A large gathering of friends, colleagues and family of this distinguished academic convened at Valkenberg Hospital’s Education centre to listen to Associate Professor Astrid Berg speak about the influence Flisher had on her own academic career.

Berg, a child & adolescent psychiatrist as well as a Jungian analyst spoke on the mental-health issues facing parents today. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town and Associate Professor Extraordinary at Stellenbosch University. She is also a senior consultant at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town where she heads the UCT Parent-Infant Mental Health Service.

Her lecture concluded with a call for “an urgent shift of emphasis from reactive intervention to prevention and health promotion.”

Prof. Flisher’s wife, Mehrunisa, together with some of her family members and friends also attended the lecture in honour of her late husband.