The World Health Organisation have produced the Atlas of Headache Disorders 2011. It is extremely interesting reading and the following is taken from its preface.
Headache disorders are among the most common disorders of the nervous system, causing substantial ill-health and disability
in populations throughout the world. Despite this, they are underestimated in scope and scale, and there is little recognition
of their public-health impact. It is not known how, or how effectively, health-care and other resources are utilized to mitigate
their effects.
WHO has a number of important initiatives in the field of clinical neuroscience designed to promote international collaboration,
enhance research capacity and, above all, develop programmes to benefit communities worldwide affected by neurological
disorders. Among them is Project Atlas, a series of publications now including the Atlas of Headache Disorders, the result of a
collaborative study by WHO and the nongovernmental organization,Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign against Headache.
The Global Campaign involves multiple nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions and individuals worldwide,
with objectives not only of better professional, public and political awareness of the global burden of headache but also
of solutions to it. It might appear that production of an Atlas would be difficult in relation to headache disorders, but this publication, carefully and expertly designed and covering, as it does, very important causes of population ill-health and disability, is highly appropriate and timely. Its introduction provides a clear description of its purpose, definitions and descriptions of the principal headache disorders and an account of barriers to care that must be overcome if these are to be managed effectively. The results, gathered from respondents from more than half the world’s countries, are set out in themes: epidemiology, the impact of headache disorders on society, health-care utilization, diagnosis, assessment and treatment, professional training and the
importance of national professional organizations are all given full consideration.
