The importance both of undergraduate education in forming the knowledge base for the next generation of doctors and of their continuing professional development is widely acknowledged. The changes that are occurring to the undergraduate medical curriculum in many countries are therefore likely to have a long-term effect, although their specific effect on psychiatric teaching and the future of psychiatry is not yet apparent. This is of particular significance in the context of a continuing crisis in the recruitment and retention of mental health professionals in general, and of psychiatrists in particular, when the need to attract doctors into the specialty has never been greater (Sierles & Taylor, 1995).

The use of the term ‘eHealth’ is gathering momentum across Europe as the wider implications of the health care reforms enabled by information technology become apparent. There is a growing realisation by both health care providers and consumers alike that change in the sector is now imperative and timely. Member states of the European Community are all facing an increase in the requirement for health care provision because of changing demography, in particular ageing populations. In the face of an increasing demand for services, the existing model for health care delivery is arguably inadequate. In many ways it is economically unsustainable, even by the wealthiest countries in Europe.

Health care will undoubtedly change over the next 20 or 30 years as eHealth technologies become increasingly used and accepted (Treister, 1997; Yellowlees, 1997, 2001). At a global level, the health care system is moving away from episodic care to concentrating on continuity of care, especially for patients with chronic diseases (Yack, 2000), who will give rise to the greatest disease burden in the future (Murray & Lopez, 1999). Many countries are gradually moving away from a focus on the service provider to a focus on the informed patient, and from an individual approach to treatment to a team approach. Increasingly there is a concern less with the treatment of illness and more with the need for wellness promotion and illness prevention, which, of course, parallels a shift away from traditional care to community care.

Videoconferencing has increased patient access to psychiatric care by linking specialists at academic or regional health centres with primary health care professionals in shortage areas (Hilty et al, 1999, 2002). Preliminary studies have demonstrated positive outcomes and user satisfaction (Hilty et al, 2002). Information is still being sought regarding costs because of a paucity of clinical outcome studies, cost data and randomised trials.

Telepsychiatry, the use of videoconferencing in mental health care, has been piloted in European settings as diverse as northern Norway and inner London. These studies have been initiated to improve access to services and have been limited in scale. Nevertheless, some common themes have emerged.

Country profiles provide summary information on mental health policy, services, training and research in the country, along with key references for more details. The aim is to give a bird's eye view of the situation within about 1500 words. It is hoped that this will not only increase the reader's awareness of distant and often forgotten countries, but also provide an opportunity for learning from others’ experiences. The profiles can also open possibilities for further dialogue and even collaboration.

Relative to its economic indicators, Sri Lanka has a high health status. The life expectancy in the year 2001 was 70.7 years for males and 75.4 years for females. Maternal and infant mortality rates have shown a downward trend over the past half century and now are around 2.3 per 10 000 live births and 16 per 1000 live births, respectively. These trends are mainly due to the high literacy rate and comparatively large investments made in health and social welfare.

The Republic of Turkey has a population of 67.4 million (year 2000) and covers 783 563 km2; administratively it is divided into 81 provinces. A few national statistics from 2000 are: infant death rate 41.9/1000; life expectancy at birth 68 years; unemployment rate 6.6%; gross national product (GNP) per capita US$2965; and adult literacy rate 87.32% (females 80.64%; males 93.86%) (State Statistics Institute, 2003).

Azerbaijan is a nation with a Turkic population which regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has an area of approximately 86 000 km2. Georgia and Armenia, the other countries comprising the Transcaucasian region, border Azerbaijan to the north and west, respectively. Russia also borders the north, Iran and Turkey the south, and the Caspian Sea borders the east. The total population is about 8 million. The largest ethnic group is Azeri, comprising 90% of the population; Dagestanis comprise 3.2%, Russians 2.5%, Armenians 2% and others 2.3%.

In the early 1980s, when the first cases of AIDS were being reported in the gay population and among intravenous drug users, epidemiological research indicated that the disease was both blood-borne and sexually transmitted. Mental health care workers had little concern about infection among people with serious and persistent mental illness, because this population was felt to be too disabled to engage in the sexual or needle-sharing behaviours that put one at risk. Yet the first case of AIDS in a US state psychiatric facility was diagnosed in 1983, when a woman in her mid-20s, who had been hospitalised for several months, developed Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (Cournos et al, 1989). This case was quite shocking to the treatment team, for two reasons: first, AIDS had unexpectedly entered the psychiatric population; and second, the person infected was a woman, when the disease was being reported almost exclusively in men in the United States.

The World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR) could be considered as a newcomer among scientific societies in the mental health field, because it was established in 1986 in France, when about 100 professionals from 35 countries met at its founding congress. That congress was preceded by an extensive international planning process, which began with the First World Congress on Rehabilitation for the Mentally Ill in Helsinki, in 1970. Subsequent meetings of key professionals and agency representatives from various countries, mainly supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Office, resulted in the formation, in 1980, of a promoting group which planned, through its international secretariat, the foundation of the WAPR. Therefore, close links with the mental health programme of the WHO have been maintained by the WAPR since its beginnings.