Seema Uplekar was a 40-year-old trailing spouse when she accompanied her husband Dr Mukund Uplekar, a senior medical officer working in Geneva for WHO-s Global TB Program in 1999. She had no idea that 17 years later, a little before her husband-s retirement and return to Mumbai, she would be placed with an opportunity to translate WHO-s Intervention Guide for mental, neurological and substance use disorders in non-specialised health settings. She has rendered the guide in Marathi, the fourth most spoken Indian language.

The guide aims to fill the gaps in the provision of the much-needed mental healthcare to the poor and vulnerable section of her home state, especially in setups where medical personnel are not trained to handle matters of the mind. Apart from English, the guide mhGAP Intervention Guide, 2016 updated version is available only in Russian and Spanish. Uplekar-s version was launched in the form of an e-book, but is intended for circulation in Primary Health Centers PHCs. It is directed at bringing evidence-based and high-quality mental health care within the ambit of Marathi speaking personnel of the third-largest Indian state.