Mounting evidence suggests that antecedents of adult mental disorders can be detected in children and adolescents. The development of policies and programmes for child and adolescent mental health have lagged those for adult mental disorders. The reasons for the lag are many, including widespread lack of knowledge about child development and childhood mental disorders, relatively weak advocacy, lack of training and in many parts of the world, absent fi nancial and professional resources for programme development and implementation. It is evident with current knowledge that the state of affairs must be changed to meet the needs of contemporary civilization. With many children and adolescents growing in.
