History of African Neurology.
Résumé
Background
The History of African neurology is not well known.
Objective
Through this communication, our objective is to shed light on this barely History of African Neurology, which is
very exciting, rich and rapidly evolving. Its rapid evolution, over the last fifty years is the result of the evolvement
of its youth and its training schools.
Patients and Methods / Material and Methods
At the very beginning, it was confused with the History of Tropical Neurology, until the awareness, around
1950th, by the first neurologists, true pioneers, who worked in sub-Saharan Africa, that cultural and
environmental factors conferred genuine specificity to African neurology.
Results
Since that time, African neurosciences has been structured and developed, contributing to the birth of
Neurological Societies in some African countries, then the Pan African Association of Neurological Sciences
(PAANS), continental structure, which was the first major cluster of neurologists and neurosurgeons on the
continent. In August 2015, the African Academy of Neurology (AfAN) was set up in Dakar, with the aim of
bringing together African Neurologists. This Academy, which was created thanks to the joint will of new pioneers
and the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), allowed the recognition of neurology in the African continent,
alongside other great regional Academies around the world.
Conclusion
African neurosciences have emerged from the shadows, allowing, in particular, a deepening of the knowledge in
neuroepidemiology and the role of socio-economic, ethnographic and cultural factors.