Melvyn Freeman is a consultant on NCDs public mental health. A clinical psychologist by training, he has been involved in public health advocacy, policy and legislation for 30 years as researcher, activist, developer and implementer. He was previously Chief Director for Non-communicable Diseases at the National Department of Health (for nine years), and prior to that Director of Mental Health and Substance Abuse (for seven years). He is an expert advisor to the World Health Organization and was the principle writer of numerous WHO documents on mental health policy and legislation as well as developing education materials. He has published extensively on matters of public health including health systems and services, mental health and HIV, youth mental health, community care and so forth. Melvyn has a particular concern regarding the social determinants of health and illness and ensuring a holistic and integrated approach to care. He has held positions of visiting professor at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Stellenbosch.