[Primary mental health care for the victims of the disaster in Armero, Colombia].

: Seven to eight months after the disastrous volcanic mudslide that destroyed the town of Armero, Colombia, 200 victims were screened up by means of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) for emotional disorders identification. In order to assess disorders' specific nature, a 104-victim subsample was interviewed by psychiatrists. The most frequent diagnosis ranged among (a) Post-traumatic stress syndrome, (b) Depression, and (c) Generalized anxiety disorder. Our findings help us to point out that (1) In a developing country a higher prevalence of well-defined emotional disorders among victims of any first-magnitude disaster is to be detected at such a level it can safely be said a real epidemic is to be tackled with, (2) Basically, the identified symptomatology confines itself to anxiety-depression disorders, (3) SRQ is indeed an apt instrument for disasters victims screening, and (4) Mental health specialized resources proved to be insufficient for an adequate coverage of the needs of the affected communities to be performed. As far as mental health is concerned, if the necessary services are to be offered so that all aspects involved are taken care of, it is imperative that victims be attended to by primary care workers. So far, mental health primary care area is still lacking a systematical research within a disaster situation framework. We understand that our paper may serve as an initial orientation for this care strategy being duly implemented and furthered up.