People around the world get Together Under the Umbrella on World Brain Day 2017

Home  »  News

World Brain Day takes place annually on July 22nd. The main objective of this day of the brain is to increase public awareness and promote advocacy related to brain health. The day is an initiative of The World Federation of Neurology , whose theme for this year’s campaign was “Stroke is a brain attack – prevent it and treat it”. Stroke will affect one in six people in their lifetime. To learn more about stroke please visit our member Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE)’s website  – www.safestroke.eu.

As part of EFNA’s Together Under the Umbrella campaign, organisations and individuals were encouraged to take a photo under an umbrella and share it to social media to raise awareness, mentioning the neurological disease area they are either affected by or represent.

The aim was to highlight to wider society, the range of disorders of the brain – their impact and prevalence.

Hundreds of photos were shared social media from across the world throughout the day. Here are a selection from shared on Twitter:


In addition to these images, this year EFNA recorded a series of interview with patients/patient advocates from seven different disease areas.

Speaking on the day, EFNA President, Ann Little said: “By continuing to work together we can maximise the visibility of brain disorders as a whole and ensure we can access the resources required to tackle the enormous burden these diseases pose.”

“By continuing to work together we can maximise the visibility of brain disorders as a whole and ensure we can access the resources required to tackle the enormous burden these diseases pose.”

“We would like to thank everyone who got involved on the day – but also throughout the course of the campaign,” says Ms Little, “And we hope to see more of you under your umbrellas in the months to come!”

Pictures below shared on Instagram. Our story’s Feature Image shows Juliane Sievert and her son Nils, from France, who shared their picture on World Brain Day in support of Dystonia and brain disorder awareness.