Access to pediatric neurology training and services worldwide:A survey by the International Child Neurology Association

Authors

Jo M Wilmshurst, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Coriene Catsman- Berrevoets, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Donald L. Gilbert, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Lakshmi Nagarajan, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Pauline Samia, Aga Khan UniversityFollow
Esra Serdaroglu Serdaroglu, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Chahnez Triki, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Jorge Vidaurre, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Biju Hameed, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Document Type

Article

Department

Paediatrics and Child Health (East Africa)

Abstract

Pediatric neurology is the medical subspecialty responsible for diagnosing and managing diseases and disorders of the nervous system in childhood and adolescence. In many, but not all, regions of the world, the discipline of pediatric neurology is recognized as a specialty or subspecialty of either neurology or pediatrics. Significant knowledge and competencies in this area are necessary to be effective in clinical practice. The need for this is driven by the high burden of disease from neurologic conditions in children and the effect on their families. As the first part of a multistaged project under the auspices of the International Child Neurology Association, in collaboration with key stakeholders, a survey was undertaken to establish which countries have practicing child neurologists. For those countries that have child neurologists, the survey established the number of practitioners and which countries have access to in-country child neurology training. Responses were obtained from 177 countries. Worldwide, there is a median of 0.07 and mean of 0.39 child neurologists per 100,000 population. The greatest deficits in child neurology specialists and access to training were evident in countries which fell under the World Bank rating of low-income country status (range of 0-0.008 child neurologists per 100,000 population). Seventy-three percent of low-income countries lack access to child neurologists: The majority are in the African and South-East Asia regions. For the population of 1.37 billion in the continent of Africa, there were 324 child neurologists, equating to a median of 0.01 per 100,000 population in comparison with a median of 0.59 child neurologists per 100,000 across high-income countries. Ninety-four countries had capacity to support in-country pediatric neurology training. Worldwide, there are inadequate numbers of child neurologists and a great need for increased training capacity.

Publication (Name of Journal)

Nuerology

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000207633

Recommended Citation

Wilmshurst, J., Berrevoets, C. C., Gilbert, D. L., Nagarajan, L., Samia, P., Serdaroglu, E., Triki, C., Vidaurre, J., Hameed, B. (2023). Access to pediatric neurology training and services worldwide:A survey by the International Child Neurology Association. Nuerology, 101(18), 1-11.
Available at: https://ecommons.aku.edu/eastafrica_fhs_mc_paediatr_child_health/422

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.