FROM 7 to 9 September global leaders of the EMERALD project (Emerging mental health systems in low- and middle-income countries) convened in Cape Town to report on the latest findings and progress of their multinational six-country research project.

The Emerald project is a global mental health research partnership aimed at improving mental health systems and capacity-building in South Africa and five other low and middle-income countries. It is generating new evidence on the cost of scaling up evidence-based mental health services in this country, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nigeria and Uganda. The aim is to advance sustainable development goals in support of the post-2015 development agenda of the United Nations and WHO’s Global Mental Health Action Plan through research and advocacy.

“Emerald is undertaking groundbreaking research that will assist governments to strengthen health systems by investing in mental health care. The purpose of our meeting is to meet with policy makers from Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda and share our research findings, to enable the use of our research in policy and practice,” says Professor Graham Thornicroft, leader of the Emerald project from King’s College, London.

Visit the EMERALD website here.