Dear Dr. Costa e Silva,

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I am drafting an editorial note to be published on our Website shortly. It draws attention to the very close relationship between WHO and the World Psychiatric Association, and raises questions about the nature and extent of financial support your Division receives from the WPA.

I would welcome any observations you might have and would of course take close account of any points you might want to make. But apart from this, please may I ask for your help on three particular points:

1. The Division clearly greatly benefits from WPA input, but I have not been able to find any record of WPA contributions in the list of donors to WHO Extrabudgetary Resources for programme activities. Has any assessment been made of the financial value of the WPA's contributions to your Division, and could you please direct me to it?

2. A recent WPS newsletter referred to "a formal collaborative agreement" between WPA and your Division. I would be grateful if you could let me know what this agreement entailed, if possible giving me a citation to it. I was unable to find it on the WHO website.

3. Are there any other WHO documents I should know about which would explain the nature of the special relationship between your Division and the WPA (eg in relation to your own position as past president of WPA and the current chair of 14 WPA task forces) explaining in particular how possible conflicts of interest and commitment might be avoided?

I very much hope you will be able to help and/or direct me to appropriate sources of information. Many thanks for your attention and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Charles Medawar

 

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