"People in our communities have a limited awareness of brain health in particular. Conditions like neurodegenerative disease or stroke or epilepsy, all those things are being surrounded by misconceptions. So that causes patients to be stigmatized, and the majority of the patients in the community seek medical care in an alternative way, like traditional healers, religious remedies, and the like. But this also contributes to the suffering of our patients who live there," Dr. Zewde notes.
"We are aware of the large gap between [Global] North and South. It is one aim of the World Federation [of Neurology] to be inclusive in countries in need [...]. We are made aware of the needs by all members constantly, and we can improve in providing content and quality of neurology by increasing teaching and training as a sideline. The World Federation entertains four training centers in Africa: Cape Town, Cairo, Dakar, and Rabat, which have been training neurologists in the past years, says Dr. Grisold.