The China-Australia training on psychological crisis intervention for medical aid leaders and volunteers after the Sichuan earthquake

Three of us (B R, an expert on mental health response to trauma; A C, a senior manager leading emergency management for the Australian Red Cross; and R M P, who played a significant role in mental health recovery of Australians affected by the second Bali bombing 6 ) were invited to conduct the training in association with senior faculty members of the Peking University Institute of Mental Health, with representatives from the provinces and from volunteer organisations such as Hope China. The training program was funded by AusAID and supported at a very high level in the Chinese Government, with Bai Huan, Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Diseases Prevention and Control and Yang Gonghuan, Executive Director of the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention attending the opening ceremony. In his speech, Yang Gonghuan emphasised that mental health is an essential component of disease control in China.