Egyptian Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Association’s 2nd International Conference — Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Embracing Diversity – Serving Community

ECAPA, founded in December 2012, held its second Conference on September 2019 in collaboration with IACAPAP and the EPA (Egyptian Psychiatry Association).

The conference was held in Cairo September 3-5. The conference witnessed several oral presentations on a variety of topics from local, regional and international presenters; in addition to two master classes, two half-day workshops and a long workshop.

The conference was attended by 140 attendees from all over Egypt: Greater Cairo, Lower Egypt: Alexandria, Dakahlia (Mansoura), Gharbeya (Tanta & Mahala) and Sharkeya Governorates, Upper Egypt: Assuit, Elmenia and Bani Suef Governorates. From outside Egypt attendees came from KSA, UAE and Qatar as well as from Singapore, France, UK, New Zealand and the USA.

In the opening ceremony six speakers addressed the conference: Prof. Suaad Moussa, ECAPA Founding President & Conference President; Prof. Mostafa Shahin, Head of Psychiatry Department, Kasr Al Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University; Prof. Momtaz Abdel Wahab EPA President; Prof. Ossama Abd Elhay vice president of Egyptian medical syndicate; Prof. Ahmed Okasha, WPA President 2002-2005 and Prof. Daniel Fung, IACAPAP President.

The opening ceremony was followed by an honoring ceremony for the pioneers of Child Psychiatry in Egypt, professors Trandil Elgendy, Samia Abdel Rahman & Sanaa Ahmed from Cairo University; Zeinab Bishry from Ain Shams University & Seham Rashed from Alexandria University.

Inaugural Speaker was Dr. Benny Dembitzer, international development economist, a member of the team awarded the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize, 1985. His talk was entitled” A Different Look at Globalization”

Keynote Speakers were Boris Birmaher, MD Prof. of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh -USA who gave a lecture entitled “When & How to Treat Youth at High-Risk of Developing Bipolar Disorder” and IACAPAP’s President Prof. Daniel Fung (Singapore) who gave a lecture titled “Child Psychiatry Without Psychiatrists: Developing a Population Based Mental Health Ecosystem for Youth in Singapore” and Bruno Falissard, MD Prof. of Public Health South Paris University –France and his lecture titled ” The Pitfall of Universalism in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry”
Oral presentations at the conference covered a wide range of subjects including Egyptian Child Law, trauma, depression, autism, ADHD, feeding & eating Disorders, working with families, Islamic perspectives of DBT for adolescents and management of child & adolescent psychiatric disorders.

The two master classes were conducted by Boris Birmaher Endowed Chair in Early Onset Bipolar Disease and Professor of Psychiatry University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, the first was “Challenges in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mood Disorders in Children” and the second was ” Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Children”

Workshops during the conference included: 1) Attachment-Informed Theory into Practice: Observe, Play, & Nurture, conducted by Dr. Hanan Derby (Psychiatry Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Al Jalila Children’s Hospital, UAE) and Dr. Azhar Abu Ali (Senior Clinical Psychologist Latifa Hospital- Dubai Health Authority, UAE) and 2) Play Therapy Makes a Difference conducted by Mohamed Nasreldin, MD Professor of Psychiatry Director of Adolescent Psychiatry Unit Faculty of Medicine Cairo University, Egypt, and 3) Working with Children and Families Where Child Sexual Abuse Is Suspected or Identified conducted by Jenny Gray OBE, Carol Jolliffe & Stephen Pizzey (Child and Family Training, UK) and Dr. Samaa El Abd Associate Trainer and Consultant.

IACAPAP Bulletin, Issue 55