World Neurology: March-April issue now available online

This issue includes heartfelt articles and tributes to recently departed neurologists, including the article by Dr. M. Akif Topcuoglu, president of the Turkish Neurological Society, about the devastating Turkiye-Syria earthquakes, with tributes to each of the five neurologists who passed away in the disaster.

This issue also includes obituaries and tributes to the late Prof. Johan Arli, a past-president of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), written by WFN Past- President Raad Shakir and other colleagues of Prof. Arli from around the globe, including Nils Erik Gilhis, Ole-Björn Tysnes, Christian A. Vedeler, and Amadou Gallo Diop. In this issue's President's Column, WFN President Dr. Wolfgang Grisold updates us on the many international activities in progress and being planned by the WFN, including the work being done with WHO and the Intersectoral Action Plan (IGAP), and the exciting plans for the World Congress of Neurology in Montreal this October, including the planning for the Annual Council of Delegates meeting.

Drs. Tissa Wijeratne and David Dodick (Co-Chairs of World Brain Day) as well as Drs. Lewis and Grisold provide a followup report on the plans for this year's World Brain Day 2023, which will be dedicated to "Brain Health and Disability," including collaborations between the WFN, our global regions, national neurologic societies, and the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation. Dr. Wijeratne is also congratulated on receiving the prestigious medal of the Order of Australia. This issue's History Column, by Dr. Peter J. Koehler, is devoted to an extensive book review on "The Idea of Epilepsy: A Medical and Social History of Epilepsy in the Modern Era" (1860-2020), by Dr. Simon D. Shorvon.

This issue also features several reports from recent national and international conferences. Kurt Niederkorn, Yong-Jae Kim, Hee-Jung Song, and Alex Razumovsky report on the joint conference of the Korean Society of Neurosonology and the WFN Neurosonology Research Group help in November 2022. Aida Kondybayeva reports on the Fifth International Educational Forum, the Neurology Update in Kazakhstan 2023 that was held in March 2023. Stefan Kiechl and Deidre De Silva report on the World Stroke Congress that occurred in October 2022 in Singapore. Finally, Carlos N. Ketzoian reports on the Second Latin American Course on Neuroepidemiology that was held in Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay, this past March.

In closing, we want to thank all readers for their interest in and attention to World Neurology and the chance to report such important updates about neurology and neurologists from around the globe. We sincerely hope many of you are planning on attending the WCN in Montreal in October 2023 in person (for the first time since 2019) or virtually. •

By Steven L. Lewis, MD, Editor, and Walter Struhal, MD, Co-Editor

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Highlights

President's Column

• WFN Activities Update
  By Wolfgang Grisold

  Welcome to World Neurology. We are glad to be able to share WFN proceedings in this issue. Unfortunately, the worldwide situation in regard to armed conflicts has not improved. In addition, we witnessed the earthquake in the region of Turkey and Syria, and we all want to express our sympathies. We are also aware of the critique that we omit many other disasters that occur in our member societies, and I apologize for not mentioning all of them.

The WFN Committees and Specialty Groups

• Joint KSN and WFN NSG Conference
  By Kurt Niederkorn, Yong-Jae Kim, Hee-Jung Song, and Alex Razumovsky

  The Neurosonology Specialty Group (NSG) of the WFN is dedicated to the promotion of science and research as well as of education and training in the field of ultrasonic techniques and its clinical use. Therefore, international cooperation and the dissemination of scientific information within the field of neurosonology is part of NSG WFN activities.

From WFN

• World Brain Day 2023- Brain Health and Disability: Leave No One Behind
  By Tissa Wijeratne, David W. Dodick, Steven L. Lewis, And Wolfgang Grisold

  World Brain Day 2023 annually commemorates the foundation of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) on July 22. The previous World Brain Day themes focused on specific neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease, migraine, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and many others. We are again partnering with all six regions of the WFN as well as the World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR) to unite the world on the disability that results when brain health compromised.

Around the World

• Prof. Wijeratne honored during Australia Day 2023

• The Fifth International Educational Forum
  By Aida Kondybayeva

  The Fifth International Educational Forum Neurology Update in Kazakhstan 2023 was held March 10-11, 2023. The forum was held in hybrid mode. With the joint work of the Kazakhstan National Association of Neurologists Neuroscience (KNANN) and the faculty of medicine and health at the al-Farabi Kazakh National University (al-Farabi KazNU). The event was attended by 846 doctors, including neurologists, internists, GPs, rehabilitation specialists, and intensive care specialists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

• Earthquake Disaster and Turkish Neurology
  By Prof. M. Akif Topcuoglu

  On Feb. 6, 2023, two major earthquakes occurred, nine hours apart, with epicenters in Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş in Turkiye. In this disaster, called the 2023 Turkiye-Syria earthquakes," nearly 43,000 people died in Turkiye and 6,000 people in Syria. A total of approximately 150,000 people were injured, of which 120,000 were in Turkiye. It is estimated that at least 3 million people migrated from the affected zone to different cities after the earthquakes. Aftershocks still continue and pose a serious risk for rescue teams. Earthquakes affected 13.5 million Turkish people in an area of 1,000 square kilometers. This refers to about one-seventh of Turkiye's population.

• II Latin American Course of Neuroepidemiology
  By Carlos N. Ketzoian

  Last March, the II Latin American Course of Neuroepidemiology took place in Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay. This course was organized by the neuroepidemiology section of the Institute of Neurology at the University of the Republic in Uruguay, and the Université de Limoges in France, with the endorsement of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN). The course was held at the Eastern Regional University Center (C.U.R.E.) of the University of the Republic, Uruguay.

• Report of the World Stroke Congress 2022 in Singapore
  By Stefan Kiechl And Deidre De Silva

  The World Stroke Congress (WSC) is the flagship meeting of the World Stroke Organization (WSO). After the exclusively virtual events in 2021 and in 2020 (joint conference with the European Stroke Organization), the WSC 2022 in Singapore was the first international large-scale in-person meeting. With more than 4,400 attendees (approximately half in person and half online) this was the largest WSC ever.

History

• Book Review: The Idea of Epilepsy
  By Peter J. Koehler

  A Medical and Social History of Epilepsy in the Modern Era (1860-2020), Simon D. Shorvon, Cambridge University Press

In Memoriam

• Prof. Johan Arild Aarli (1936-2023)
  By Raad Shakir

  Johan Arild Aarli, former president of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), passed away on the March 24, 2023, at the age of 86 years. His name is recognized and admired by neurologists across the world.

• Tribute From Africa to Johan Aarli
  By Amadou Gallo Diop

  We, in Africa, definitively consider Johan Aarli as the great and generous man who, as president of WFN, put Africa on the map of world neurology.