• In mental health care, we are confronted with several realities requiring specific action
    1. Acute psychiatric diseases need an acute cure with adapted therapies on a medical, psychological, social and existential level. Psychotropic medication must be made available.
    2. Stabilized and chronic psychiatric pa¬tients require more care and adapted reha¬bilitation programmes, in order to bring the patients into the most adequate social environment. This can mean going back to society, but also being placed in projects of sheltered living, sheltered workshops and special rest homes for chronic psychiatric patients.
    3. Psychiatric diseases linked to other dis¬eases and situations: people with aids, with drug addiction, posttraumatic diseases linked to war situations, violence against women, refugees and displaced people. All of these groups demand a specific treat¬ment. In Rwanda for example, the Brothers of Charity started up special programmes for victims of the genocide; in the Kivu Region of Congo, there are special pro¬grammes for women who were victims of violence; in Tanzania, for those who are liv¬ing in refugee camps psychiatric clinics are set up and trauma counselling programmes are organized.
    The importance of creating psychiatric consultations in the existing health care facilities: medical
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