Japan shared insights at a meeting in Thailand on the importance of mental health care after a disaster. The event followed the collapse of a high-rise building under construction in the Thai capital after a major earthquake struck the region in March.



Eighty-nine people were killed, 9 were injured, and 7 went missing at the construction site in Bangkok, following the temblor in central Myanmar.



More than 30 people took part in the event.



A Japanese expert spoke with Thai hospital officials and health authorities providing care for disaster victims and bereaved families.



Kato Hiroshi is the director of the Hyogo Institute for Traumatic Stress. He has been providing psychological care to people affected by the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.



Kato said some survivors hesitate to speak of their psychological pain when others around them died in the disaster.



He also said mental care might be overlooked for first responders, such as firefighters and police.



Thai health official Pongsakorn Lengdee agreed with the need for improving such support for rescue workers.



"I think we will talk with our colleagues to how to improve and how to create a program to make everyone concerned about their health, their mental health," Pongsakorn said.