World Encephalitis Day History
World Encephalitis Day is the biggest day of the year for people whose lives have been affected by inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis International established this global awareness day on the 22nd February 2014.
Since its launch in 2014, World Encephalitis Day has reached 628 million people globally in our efforts to grow global awareness of encephalitis.
In 2014 we started the campaign with a record-breaking event in Liverpool. Our friends and colleagues from University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health and The Walton Centre put on an incredible spectacle in the shape of the world’s largest organ made from people standing in the shape of a brain! In the years that followed Encephalitis International organised various events for the encephalitis community to come together including quizzes, photography and film competitions, and online games which culminated in the launch of BrainWalk in 2018. This involved individuals and teams setting themselves step targets for February to coincide with World Encephalitis Day – over 114 million steps were recorded with participants from 28 countries.
In 2019, Big Red Bus tour of London was just one of 20 gatherings across the world, and we turned social media into a sea of red with hundreds of people, organisations – and Morph! – talking about encephalitis and going #Red4WED.
In 2020, inspired by a petition signed by 27,678 people from 128 countries to “Show the World Health Organization that encephalitis matters”, we went on a mission to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) headquarters in Geneva. It was also the year the Covid-19 pandemic happened, and we began to collaborate on research projects looking into its effect on the brain. We also launched the first World Encephalitis Day Alliance Conference in collaboration with other encephalitis organisations based in the USA to bring together people across America to connect with each other. We welcomed attendees from five different countries and six different encephalitis organisations.
As the campaign grew so did the famous faces showing their support from our ambassador Rebecca Adlington and actor Hugh Bonneville to Morph and Shaun the Sheep in 2020 and 2021. We continued to light up landmarks around the globe including the Niagara Falls in Canada, the Jet d’Eau in Geneva, the Dancing House in Prague and last year’s highlight: the Lotus Tower in Sri Lanka.
In 2023 we announced ground-breaking research into the impact of mental health and encephalitis, research which would be the basis for our Mental Health and Encephalitis project supported by the National Lottery Community Fund the following year. We also saw the publication of the World Health Organization’s Why encephalitis matters? Report and #WorldEncephalitisDay trended on Twitter.
Looking back, our first campaign reached 13 million people. Fast forward some ten years and in 2024 we reached 224 million people in 101 countries through a targeted global PR and media campaign. Our “Don’t Delay: Give Today” appeal on World Encephalitis Day raised over £40,000 towards providing training opportunities for medical professionals globally and our campaign film has been nominated for a Smiley Charity Film Award this year. 2025 will also see the World Health Organization launch a Technical Brief on encephalitis on World Encephalitis Day.
We look forward to what future campaigns will bring for our international encephalitis community!
For more information on how to get involved in World Encephalitis Day 2025, click here.
