Mental health care pioneer awarded SA’s ‘science Oscar’

01 July 2016 - 17:52 By TMG Digital

South Africa's 'science Oscar'‚ the TW Kambule Award‚ has gone to Crick Lund‚ a pioneer in mental health care.Crick‚ who is the director of the Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health‚ received the prestigious award from the National Science and Technology Forum on Thursday night in Pretoria.The annual NSTF awards recognise outstanding contributions to science‚ engineering and technology. The TW Kambule award specifically celebrates outstanding contribution and innovation by an individual over a period of up to 15 years after the award of a PhD or equivalent.Lund’s research has pioneered the development of mental health policies and services to address the growing burden of mental illness in South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries. Lund said: "Research is a team game‚ so I am receiving the NSTF award on behalf of the wonderful team that I work with - colleagues at the University of Cape Town and our fantastic national and international partners.”His scientific work has influenced the development of norms for mental health services‚ drafting of national mental health policies‚ development of World Health Organisation guidelines for mental health policy and services‚ identification of the social determinants of mental illness in low- and middle-income countries‚ interventions that address the cycle of poverty and mental illness‚ and delivery and evaluation of new models of mental health care.“Mental health is a global health and development issue that is receiving increasing public policy attention‚ and I hope this award can create greater awareness of this issue‚" said Lund.The Alan J Flisher Centre is a collaboration between members of the department of psychiatry and mental health at UCT and the psychology department at Stellenbosch University...

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