SYNOPSIS 1624 patients who were attending primary health facilities in 4 developing countries were examined to determine how many were suffering from mental disorder. Using stringent criteria to establish the presence of psychiatric morbidity, 225 cases were found, indicating an overall frequency of 13-9 %. The great majority of cases were suffering from neurotic illnesses and for most the presenting complaint was of a physical symptom, such as headache, abdominal pain, cough or weakness. The health workers following their normal procedure correctly detected one third of the psychiatric cases.

The findings for a baseline assessment for a community-based HIV/STD prevention intervention for commercial sex workers (CSWs) and managers of the establishments that employ them in the Philippines is presented in this study. CSW knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and establishment policies concerning HIV prevention were assessed. Baseline assessments are part of an iterative process that will be used to modify the planned intervention. The preliminary findings point to the importance of an intervention that stresses changes in establishment policies and expectations as a means of reducing risk behaviours associated with HIV/STD transmission.

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Within the context of a World Health Organization coordinated collaborative study health workers in six developing countries were assessed 18 months after their training for improvement in their knowledge and attitude towards mental health problems and their management. The approaches to training varied between study areas, but the degree of improvement following the training, was of equal magnitude in all countries. The training process has formalized the recognition by the health workers that treatment of mental health problems is an integral part of their work.

A semi-structured interview for assessing the knowledge and attitude of health workers concerning mental health problems was applied in seven developing country areas within the context of a World Health Organization coordinated collaborative study. The results indicate a lack of basic mental health training associated with a failure to recognize mental health problems,