Is the tsunami the only cause of mental health problems in Aceh?
Not at all. There is no doubt that the conflict has affected people as well. Where do you think MSF can be of real benefit in the future? Of course the most important thing is the individual patients we reach. MSF is in a unique position for this thanks to its medical work with the hospitals, primary health centres and mobile clinics. Then there is the bigger picture. There is presently a national initiative to try and develop a comprehensive mental health system and MSF could do a lot to help in this area. We can develop pilot projects that give an example of how a comprehensive community based mental health system could work. For instance in Sigli we are developing a community approach. We are first trying to educate people as to what is mental health. We are also setting up mental health clinic which will be integrated into the system. Community health workers which we will train can refer people to the clinic and we can in turn refer people to the psychiatric ward if that is indeed
