Statutory Meeting 23.03.22

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Nuria Soler Aguilar

Rotary Club Statutory Meeting 23.03.22 

Mental health conditions are a major burden of disease for adolescents worldwide. This trend has been growing ever stronger since the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect all our lives.

 

Rotary Club Hearts is committed to improving the quality of life for children and youth with mental illnesses.

 

We were delighted to start a series of conferences on the theme: Mental Health for Youth.

The experts ‘lectures will help understand the mental and emotional issues that children and young people are currently facing and how to help them. We will also learn how organisations, institutions and experts are addressing these issues. 

To launch this series of lectures, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Salima Aaarab.

As an expert in child and adolescent mental health services in Luxembourg, Dr Aaarab inspired the full-attended meeting with her conference: „Mental Health in children and adolescents, COVID-Effects, support existing, support needed “.

Dr Aarab guided us on the main mental illnesses faced by adolescents in Luxembourg. She illustrated how the COVID pandemic has had a negative impact in terms of the number of cases of diseases such as anorexia, depression or obesity, affecting the already reduced capacity to respond to the needs of young people.

She continued and introduced us to the medical system available in Luxembourg which includes possibilities of hospital and outpatient system. The Ministry of Education also supports mental illness for children and adolescents in Luxembourg with a non-medical system in terms of psychology services and institutions.  

The new structure of the National Service of Juvenile Psychiatry, “Service National de Psychiatrie Juvénile”, to which Dr Aarab belongs, represents a significant improvement in terms of medical supply.

However, the needs exceed the supply. Dr Aarab proposed several areas and ideas where support is needed as a possible way forward for our collaboration as a Rotary Club.

 

A dinner between members and Dr Aarab closed a memorable evening.

 

Dr Aaarab receives the Rotary Club Hearts banner from President Edoardo Carlotti