Encephalitis: an in-depth review and gap analysis of key variables affecting global disease burden
The report’s authors – Dr Julia Granerod, Alina Ellerington, Dr Nicholas Davies, Professor Benedict Michael, Professor Tom Solomon, Dr Ava Easton – launched this report to support the Code Red theme for World Encephalitis Day back in 2022.
Dr Ava Easton, the report’s senior author, and Chief Executive of Encephalitis International, called for organisations around the world to unite and change the global landscape of encephalitis.
In February 2020, Professor Tom Solomon CBE and Dr Ava Easton went on a mission to the World Health Organization where they presented a petition signed by 28,000 people in 128 countries calling for one-voice to agree that #EncephalitisMatters no matter where people live in the world.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, they were busy working on this global baseline situational analysis of encephalitis, looking at a range of factors such as prevention, surveillance, incidence, mortality, morbidity, neurology training, and patient support and information among many other aspects of the condition.
In early 2021, the report was presented to Dr Tarun Dua, the head of the World Brain Health Unit at the World Health Organization (WHO). A working group was put together between the WHO and Encephalitis International and discussions have been progressing through 2021 and into 2022 resulting in the launch of the report and the announcement of a meeting in June via a correspondence piece in the Lancet Neurology in February 2022.
Discussions centred around creating a coalition of leading global health organisations, public health bodies and policy makers to take forward the findings of the Global Impact Report and improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the condition, particularly in low-middle income countries.
Dr Easton said:
“This will be a long journey but one which will no doubt be a jewel in the crown of Encephalitis International’s history. We are thrilled to have been the catalyst for these conversations and we are excited about changing the encephalitis landscape around the world for patients and families whose lives are often devastated by this indiscriminate condition.”
