The meeting of the Russian Organizing Committee (LOC) of the II Congress on Mental Health: Meeting the Needs of the XXI Century” was held on 22 May in Moscow. The meeting was chaired by Igor Kagramanyan, LOC Chairman, Member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy.

The LOC meeting was attended by Oleg O. Salagay, Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation; Valery N.Buzin, Director of the Department on Public Health and Communications at the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation; Irina O.Terekhina, Deputy Director of the Department on the Children’s Rights Protection of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation; Tatiana G. Fomichenko, Director of the Department of Science and Education of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation; Elena V. Morozova, Head of the Center for Social, Professional, Psychological Diagnostics and Rehabilitation at the Federal Bureau of Medical and Social Expertise of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation, Danila M. Smirnov, Director of the Institute for Post-Diploma Professional Education for Art Workers at the Russian State Arts Academy of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation; Nikolay V. Govorin, Deputy Chairman of the Health Care Committee at the State Duma of the Russian Federation; Natalya V. Treushnikova, President of the Union for Mental Health of Russia; Petr V. Morozov, Vice-President of the Russian Society of Psychiatrists; Victor V. Makarov, President of the All-Russia Professional Psychotherapeutic League; Vladimir N. Sinyukov, Vice-rector of Kutafin Moscow State Law University; Vasiliy G. Kaleda, Deputy Director of the State Scientific Center for Mental Health; Helen A. Mkhitaryan, Head of Neurogeriatric Cognitive Disorders Laboratory at the Russian Gerontological Scientific Clinical Center of the Russian National Research Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation; and Andrei N. Ilnitskiy, First Deputy Director of the Research Medical Center for Gerontology.

The agenda included discussion of the Congress scientific and cultural programs which cover more than 40 events as well as organizational and technical approaches for quality preparation.

The major part of the session was focused on discussion of the Congress final document – the International Declaration “Mental Health and Education”.