Encephalitis Technical Brief

Developed by World Health Organization, the ENCEPHALITIS: GLOBAL THREATS, TRENDS AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: A TECHNICAL BRIEF outlines key actions required to improve prevention, data collection and surveillance, diagnostics and treatment, after care and awareness, and research innovation in encephalitis.

The Brief identifies encephalitis (infectious and autoimmune) as a growing global threat making it an urgent public health priority.

The target audience for this brief includes policy-makers, public health professionals, health programme managers and planners, health care providers and researchers involved in service design and improving care for people with encephalitis.

Download the full Technical Brief

History of the Technical Brief

Following a petition signed by 27,678 people of our encephalitis community, from 128 countries in 2020 and a 180-page report (Global Impact Report) developed by Encephalitis International in 2021, a two-day stakeholder event was held in June 2022 by the WHO in collaboration with Encephalitis International.

On World Encephalitis Day 2023 the World Health Organization published a seminal report: Why encephalitis matters? It detailed the discussions from the stakeholder meeting. The report outlines the public health aspects of encephalitis including diagnosis, treatment and care, prevention, support for people with encephalitis and their carers, and advocacy/awareness as well as possible mechanisms to strengthen countries’ capacity to respond to the public health challenge posed by encephalitis, with an emphasis on Low-to-Middle Income Countries.

Later, in September 2023, Encephalitis International and The WHO made an agreement to develop a technical brief on encephalitis with input from stakeholders around the world.

This Technical Brief is launched on 19^th February to coincide with World Encephalitis Day on 22nd February – GLOBAL POLICY LAUNCH