The Geneva Prize and the Jean Delay Prize highlight the achievements for human rights and recognise exceptional research in psychiatry.
The Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry 2017 is awarded to a nongovernmental organisation fighting for the rights of the mentally ill in Guatemala, ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL
Founded in 2013, this organisation is at present the only NGO in Guatemala working to assist the access of the indigenous rural population to psychiatric care.
The Geneva Prize Jury particularly valued the work from among 15 candidates comprised of individuals, institutions and NGOs. The President of the Jury, Luc Ciompi, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Social Psychiatry, University of Bern, Switzerland, drew attention to the fact that ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL works in a particularly defavourised region of the world, dominated by poverty and violence and ravaged by a long civil war and by natural catastrophes (hurricanes). The Jury considered that the work of ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL is courageous because of the real dangers which exist to those involved. This NGO has been successfully fighting for human rights in Guatemala against the stigma and discrimination from which the mentally ill suffer – thus fulfilling the specific objectives of the Geneva Prize.
The Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry was created in 1999 in Geneva, Switzerland on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 2017 the 20'000 Swiss francs’ Prize will be awarded for the 7th time and will be presented to ALAS PRO SALUD MENTAL in Berlin in October 2017, on the occasion of the 17th World Congress of Psychiatry.
The Board of Foundation of the Geneva Prize for Human Rights in Psychiatry is presided by Francois Ferrero, Professor Emeritus, University of Geneva, Switzerland. The Jury of the 2017 Prize comprised international personalities:
Postal address of the Foundation
Professor Francois Ferrero
Chemin de la Montagne 67
CH 1224 Chêne-Bougeries, Switzerland
www.geneva-prize.ch
Jules Angst is awarded WPA Jean Delay Prize 2017. The Jean Delay Prize is the most prestigious award that WPA gives triennially. It is awarded to an individual who has made a major contribution in the biological, psychological or social aspects of Psychiatry or has built useful bridges between them.
Jules Angst, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University of Zurich, Switzerland is awarded the WPA Jean Delay Prize 2017. At its meeting, the International Jury unanimously decided to award the Prize to him. This consists of a certificate and a cheque for Euros 40,000 paid for by Servier. The Prize will be presented by WPA President Dinesh Bhugra at the opening ceremony of the World Congress of Psychiatry, Berlin on Oct 8, 2017. Hearty Congratulations to Jules Angst on this achievement.
