World Brain Day
Next: July 22, 2027
Look after the mind you think with.
The story
Where it comes from
World Brain Day was launched by the World Federation of Neurology on 22 July 2014. The date is the federation's own birthday: it was founded in Brussels on 22 July 1957, when 38 national delegates met at the First International Congress of Neurological Sciences. The idea came from its Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee, was welcomed by delegates in September 2013, and in February 2014 the trustees made it an annual campaign to raise public awareness of brain health and the prevention of brain disease.
How it's celebrated
The federation picks a focus each year and invites neurologists, patient groups, researchers and health ministries to join in. National neurology societies give public talks, run school visits and webinars, write for newspapers and go on radio, and some organise walks. For everyone else it is a day for the habits that protect the brain: a walk, a good night's sleep, a check of blood pressure, or a call to someone recovering from a stroke.
Did you know
- More than 3.4 billion people live with a neurological condition, which makes brain disorders the leading cause of disability in the world.
- Neurologists first met as an international congress in Berne in 1931, 26 years before they formed a world federation.
- Low-income countries have about 227 times fewer neurologists per person than high-income ones, which is why access to care is a recurring focus of the day.
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