The Balkan wars have ended, but overwhelming psychological needs remain as survivors of ethnic cleansing seek help. UIC's department of psychiatry, with its Project on Genocide, Psychiatry and Witnessing, has been working with Balkan doctors over the past several years on mental health reform in their countries.
Balkan countries are ill-equipped to address the widespread trauma created by recent wars.
Hospitals that treat the severely mentally ill have been ruined or destroyed, and medical professionals are in short supply. Seeking the help of the international community, Agani, Ceric and Jukic are trying to build mental health care systems that meet their countries' needs by relying less on individual care and focusing more on strengthening families and providing community services. Pavkovic drafted and secured the passage of mental health care legislation in Croatia protecting patients' rights and is involved in a similar effort in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. The panelists, who are in the U.S. for a one-month curriculum on building state mental health care systems, are available for interviews. All rights reserved.