Mental diseases hold a prominent position in the classification of the burden of diseases worldwide, especially as psychiatric and neurological conditions increase with age.

The main objective of the division is to gradually cover the whole field of Global Mental Health, from Human Rights (together with the division Health and Human Rights within the IGH), to psychiatric epidemiology – with inclusion of research on health services and health economy. It focuses on to ageing and dementia, fragility in elderly people, life expectancy in good health, and mental health in elderly adults.

The Departmentsof Mental Healthand Psychiatry of the HUG, Department of Psychiatry of the University of Geneva Faculty of Medicine, and the IGH also created this division to cement the collaboration on teaching activities including post-graduate (the CAS run by Prof. Albanese, the Spring School of the IGH, the MAS in Global Health, and the Summer School in Global Health and Human Rights), and pre-graduate (AMC in social psychiatry; IMC; and the epidemiology modules) studies. Health.