The Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, organised an international seminar to discuss the integration of mental health care and chronic diseases in health care systems, with the support of the World Health Organization. The seminar was held on November 13-15, 2015, in Bangalore (India), and was followed by the annual meeting of the Advisory Committee of the Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform. Other organisational partners were the World Health Organization, South East Asia, New Delhi; Ministry of Health, India; State Ministries of Health; Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi; National NGOs; representatives from Ministries of Health of Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Maldives; and international experts.

The seminar was attended by about 150 participants, including mental health professionals, Ministry officials, researchers, and users from the SAARC countries (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka).

The discussion was based on two working documents. On the one hand, the document “Integrating the response to mental health disorders and other chronic diseases in health care systems”, co-produced by the World Health Organization and the Gulbenkian Global Mental Health Platform, and, on the other hand, the Technical Document “Integrating Mental Health Care & Chronic Non-Communicable Disorders”, a background document about the India context prepared by the NIHMANS for this seminar.

Based on these documents and after three days of discussion in the plenary sessions and in the small working groups, the participants at the seminar agreed on several recommendations about effective strategies to integrate the response to mental disorders and other chronic diseases in the health care system. These recommendations will form the basis for a comprehensive and realistic action plan for the prevention of chronic diseases and mental disorders in India.