EU puts heads together against anxiety Anxiety disorders affect people all over the world, but treatment efforts and proper diagnosis remain inadequate. An EU-funded international research collaboration between Europe and South Africa tackled these issues. Health © Shutterstock A lack of personalised treatment means that many sufferers receive inadequate clinical care. It is only through extensive research that the causes of anxiety disorders have been better understood and treatment has improved. The EUSARNAD (Joint European and South African research network in anxiety disorders) initiative worked to strengthen EU research collaboration with South Africa's University of Cape Town in this important field. EUSARNAD developed a collaborative international database of anxiety disorders, and supported researcher exchanges at various research centres. Researchers also refined research methodologies to develop and evaluate treatments for patients. The project team improved the relevance of mental health research in both developed and developing societies. South African researchers gained experience in European centres and European researchers developed a greater understanding of anxiety disorders in an emerging country. Project work resulted in 24 scientific publications, 15 abstracts of scientific posters and several collaborations between researchers. Two EUSARNAD colloquiums were held where researchers provided feedback about the international collaboration. The researchers and the participating centre leads judged both colloquiums to be a great success. Keywords Anxiety, international research collaboration, South Africa, EUSARNAD, international database
