[3] Before joining WHO in 1998[4] and moving to Geneva, Saxena served as a clinical psychiatrist to patients in Delhi, India.

[8] In 2010, he was appointed the Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

[9] At WHO, he also led the implementation of the organization's mental health Gap Action Programme.

[10] On 9 May 2017, he received the 8th Annual Leon Eisenberg Award at the Harvard Faculty Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[11] In June 2018, after 8 years, he stepped down as the Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO.