Psychiatry in Vietnam

In November 1996 a collaborative workshop organised by the Vietnam National Institute of Mental Health and the Section of Social and Cultural Psychiatry of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists was held in Hanoi. Approximately 45 participants from Australia and New Zealand and 90 psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees from throughout Vietnam attended the workshop. This was the first major psychiatric scientific meeting held in Vietnam and was a valuable opportunity for colleagues from the three countries to meet and get to know each other, and to discuss recent developments in mental health and opportunities for collaboration. The meeting was very successful. It was certainly a most enjoyable experience. A number of collaborative possibilities that were discussed are now being actively pursued.