NEUROLOGY ATLAS presents for the first time, the most comprehensive collection and compilation of information one neurological resources across 109 countries. The results confirm that the available resources including services for neurological disorders are markedly insufficient; in addition, there are large inequities across regions and income groups of countries. Urgent action is required to enhance the resources available to address the increasing burden of neurological disorders.This report is the result of a collaborative effort between the World Health Organization and the World Federation of NeurologThe designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or bounda-ries. Dotted lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by the World Health Organization in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. Errors and omis-sions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished by initial capital letters.The World Health Organization does not warrant that the information contained in this publication is complete and correct and shall not be liable for any damages incurred as a result of its us Neurological disorders constitute a large and increasing share of the global burden of disease. Stroke, dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease are important factors determining mortality and morbidity in all socie-ties. However, the resources and services for dealing with these disorders are disproportionately scarce, particularly in developing countries. While neurological service in West-ern countries varies from 1 to 10 neurologists per 100 000 inhabitants, neurology either does not exist or is only mar-ginally present in major parts of the world.Over the years, programmes, projects and other activi-ties of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the areas of mental health and neurological disorders have been closely linked. During the past decade WHO has launched a number of global public health projects, including the Global Initiative on Neurology and Public Health, in order to increase professional and public awareness of the global burden of neurological disorders and to emphasize the need for provision of neurological care in first-level and referral health facilities. The outcomes of these endeavours have revealed a paucity of information regarding national and subnational policies, programmes and resources for the treatment and management of neurological disorders.WHO is responsible for providing technical information and advice to its Member States to help them to improve the health of their citizens. This task is facilitated by col-laboration with various scientific and professional groups that have similar goals. The study of country resources for neurological disorders represents a unique collaborative effort between WHO and the World Federation of Neurol-ogy (WFN), which is committed to improving human health worldwide by promoting prevention and care of persons with nervous system disorders. WHO and WFN have been working closely for many years on activities related to prevention and control of noncommunicable and com-municable neurological diseases. This publication is another product of their close collaboration.The results obtained from the study of country resources for neurological disorders confirm that the available resources for neurological services in most countries of the world are insufficient compared with the global need for neurological care. The Neurology Atlas presents the facts and figures and highlights the large inequalities across regions and coun-tries, with low-income countries having extremely meagre resources.The availability of information will lead to greater awareness among policy-makers of the gaps in resources for neuro-logical care. It will assist health planners and policy-makers to identify areas that need urgent attention and to plan the upgrading of resources in those areas. The data also serve as a baseline for monitoring the improvement in availability of resources for neurological care. We hope that personnel involved in caring for people with neurological disorders, including health professionals and nongovernmental organi-zations, will use the Neurology Atlas data in their advocacy efforts for more and better resources foThe Atlas of Country Resources for Neurologi-cal Disorders is a project of WHO headquarters, Geneva, supervised and coordinated by Dr Leonid Prilipko and Dr Shekhar Saxena. Dr Benedetto Saraceno provided vision and guidance to the project. The project was carried out in close collaboration with the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) coordinated by its First Vice-President Dr Johan A. Aarli. Dr Aleksandar Janca provided technical guidance and supervision and was involved in the development of the survey design and questionnaire, data collection and project management. Dr Tarun Dua was responsible for completion of the data collection, data analyses and overall project management beginning 2004. Dr Dua also took the primary responsibility of writing this report. Kathy Fontanilla helped in data management and provided administrative support. Technical and methodological support was kindly provided by Dr Pratap Sharan and Dr Pallab Maulik.Key collaborators from WHO regional offices include: Dr Custodia Mandlhate and Dr Therèse Agossou, African Regional Office; Dr Claudio Miranda and Dr Jose Miguel Caldas de Almeida, Regional Office of the Americas; Dr Ahmed Mohit and Dr R. Srinivasa Murthy, Eastern Mediter-ranean Regional Office; Dr Wolfgang Rutz and Dr Mat-thijs Muijen, European Regional Office; Dr Vijay Chandra, South-East Asia Regional Office; and Dr Helen Hermann and Dr Xiangdong Wang, Western Pacific Regional Office, all of whom made significant contributions during the development of the project, the identification of focal experts in the area of neurology in Member States, and the review of the results.The information from various countries, areas and territo-ries was provided by key persons working in the field of neurology identified by WFN, WHO regional offices and the offices of WHO Representatives. The respondents also handled the many requests for clarification arising from the data. The list of the respondents is included at the end of the Atlas. A number of leading experts in the field of neurology reviewed the project report and provided comments. They include Dr Leontino Battistin, Dr Donna C. Bergen, Mrs Hanneke de Boer, Dr Pedro Chana, Dr Amadou Gallo Diop, Dr M. Gourie-Devi, Dr Jin-Soo Kim, Dr Ashraf Kurdi, Dr Najoua Miladi, Dr Elisabeth Müller, Dr Michael Piradov, Dr Donald Silberberg and Dr Wenzhi Wang. Various special-ists contributed short reviews of selected areas in relation to neurology, as follows. Epilepsy: Dr Jerome Engel Jr; Cer-ebrovascular diseases: Dr B. Piechowski-Jozwiak and Dr J. Bogousslavsky; Headache: Dr Timothy J. Steiner; Parkinson’s disease: Dr Bhim S. Singhal; Dementia: Dr Martin Prince; Multiple sclerosis: Dr Jürg Kesselring; Training in neurology: Dr Donna C. Bergen.A number of colleagues at WHO gave advice and guidance during the course of the project, in particular Dr José Bertol-ote, Dr Michelle Funk and Dr Vladimir Poznyak.