by Erich Schmutzhard and David García-Azorín
On July 13-15, 2024, the African Academy of Neurology (AFAN) and the Senegalese Association of Neurology (ASN) celebrated the 4th Conference of the African Academy of Neurology, which was held in Dakar, Senegal. This was a highly successful event, attended by more than 300 African neurologists from more than 25 countries. The main congress covered three topics: sleep disorders, stroke and headache. In addition, other interesting topics, such as environmental neurology, were discussed.
Part of the conference was a session in collaboration between AFAN-EAN on headache disorders, which covered the topics of 1) News in trigeminal neuralgia, covered by Prof. Najib Kissani, from Morocco; 2) News in facial vascular pain, delivered by Prof. David García-Azorín, from Spain; 3) Headache in Neuroinfections, by Prof. Erich Schmutzhard, from Austria; and 4) Headache and Epilepsy, by Prof. Callixte Kuate, from Cameroon. In addition, there was a two-day pre-congress session, sponsored by the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, African Section; and two post-congress sessions, sponsored by the Senegalese Association of Clinical Neurophysiology and by the World Federation of Neurology.
During the meeting, Prof. Amadou Gallo Diop was honoured for his outstanding contributions to African neurology, leading the Dakar Regional Training Centre, which has contributed to the training of dozens of African neurologists. Prof. Gallo has been and will be an inspiration for young and mid-career colleagues.
More than ninety African colleagues were invited to present their research findings and projects, with interesting oral communications from a highly representative sample of the African continent. The entire event was enriched by lively discussions that reflected the reality and situation of each different setting, with a highly valuable exchange of comments between participants. The conference served as an opportunity to create and boost networks that may be key in future training and research for African neurologists.
