%0 Journal Article
%T WHO global campaigns: A way forward in addressing public health importance of common neurological disorders
%A Aleksandar Janca
%J Annals of General Psychiatry
%D 2004
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-2832-3-9
%X The first large international collaborative activity on neurological disorders carried out by WHO and NGOs was a Global Initiative on Neurology and Public Health. This joint project began in early 1990s aiming to draw attention of health professionals, health administrators and general public to the frequency, severity and consequences of common neurological disorders and to have them acknowledged as public health problems by the Ministries of Health of some 190 WHO Member States. In order to achieve these objectives, the Global Initiative promoted the existing possibilities for the prevention of neurological disorders on a large-scale basis and emphasized that neurological treatment and care should be provided at all levels of health care and especially in primary care settings, where a great majority of patients with neurological disorders in different parts of the world receive their treatment and care [2]. In the context of this Global Initiative, WHO and NGOs jointly organized a series of symposia at numerous international and national conferences covering a plethora of public health aspects of neurological disorders such as epidemiology; assessment of costs and needs; organization of services; reduction of family and community burden; education and training; research on risk factors; and planing of programs and policies for control of neurological disorders [3]. It is interesting to note that this Global Initiative had no WHO or other budget behind it and was mainly running on the enthusiasm of its coordinators and participants. Nevertheless, the project achieved its objectives and served as a springboard to another WHO/NGO global public health endeavor, which came at the time of change in the leadership of WHO.The appointment of Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland as WHO Director-General in 1998 brought a significant change to the orientation of WHO programs and activities. Instead of dealing simultaneously with a variety of global issues of public health importance, th
%U http://www.annals-general-psychiatry.com/content/3/1/9