Message from the WFN President

Prof. Dr Wolfgang Grisold

September 2024

Dear visitors of the WFN website, 

Welcome to the WFN website, which contains information on the World Federation of Neurology and also frequently updated information. Please look at a new item, which is called “Essentials” that gives a simple overview on the activities of the World Federation Neurology. I also want to remind you of World Neurology and the newly released JNS WFN service page which is aimed at increasing the awareness around the WFN activities. 

We look forward to the yearly meeting of delegates (COD), which will be held on the 25th of September, virtually for member societies. One delegate will be elected to replace the Alla Guekht who coming to the end of her successful second term of being an elected trustee. Six candidates have been put forward by the nomination committee and their statements and CVs can be read here.

Following the COD meeting, there will be a new information initiative with presentations on the work of education of the World Federation by Prof. Steven Lewis, and Professor Alla Guekht will talk on the global work with the WHO and UN ECOSOC. The speakers will be available for questions and answers, and we hope to expand the knowledge on the work in education and global activities.

On September 26th and 27th, for the first time a virtual WFN Congress called WFN Digital Neurology Update (WNU), covering the recent developments in the most frequent neurological diseases, as well as teaching courses, will be held. 

This will be at low prices for low and lower middle-income countries, and lectures will be available in the eNeurolicalSci (eNS) open access journal following the meeting. Please note that for Europe, the United States and Canada, the EU-EACME accredits this meeting with nine CME points.

For 2025, the next World Congress of Neurology (WCN2025) is planned in Seoul, Korea. We expect a dynamic Congress in a vibrant city co-organized by the Korean Neurological Society. The Congress program is presently under development.  in addition to the well selected scientific sessions and teaching courses, there will be global political aspects, developments in the WFN regions, the development of IGAP, and interactions with the WHO and the UN ECOSOC.

We are excited that the educational activities of the World Federation of Neurology continue in strength, and I want to highlight two important success. Firstly, the World Federation has training centres in Africa, and for the training centre in Cape Town, we had a call for a position of four-year training. More than 160 candidates applied for this position, which shows not only the strong need but also the high interest for the WFN training positions. 

Secondly, we have developed a global advocacy and leadership course GALP jointly with the American Academy of Neurology, which will be initiated in San Diego in 2025 followed by intensive virtual courses and ending at the WCN 2025 in Seoul. We can proudly announce that 93 countries have applied, out of 41 countries. A joint committee of the American Academy and the World Federation will select the 20 lucky candidates, who all come from low and low-middle income countries.

We also want to report that the World Brain Day with the topic Brain Health and Prevention was successful, and the webinar was well attended. The final reports and analysis of participation will be soon published on our website, as well as reports from individual societies who used the well-brained topic to proceed with local Neurology activities. In addition to the WHO IGAP, also the publication of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) this year can be used as strong arguments for neurology worldwide. 

We are engaged in promoting young neurologists under the leadership from Prof. Helmar Lehmann (Germany) and can report that the Young Neurologists have advanced in since their foundation and first formal meetings in Montreal 2023. However, this is not enough, and more contributions of young neurology into the WFN will be needed. We are awaiting new ideas and new activities that we can advance and discuss at the Congress in Seoul.

I want to end my message by reminding you that worldwide violence, wars and inhumanity are increasing, and the toll of violence are mental, neurological conditions for all concerned. At a joint session with the WFNR ⧉ we have presented a co-seminar on war and effects of war and the need for rehabilitation. Although only a small segment was discussed, the effects of armed conflicts will be an increasing burden for neurologist and psychiatrists alike. We as neurologists have to provide the best care of patients suffering from neurological disorders due to the influence of armed conflicts. 

Please always consider that humanitarian assistance for migrants, refugees and victims of conflict is important, and if you are able to donate, we have suggestions below.