Activities in the Danish Year of the Brain 1997

In this paper we report about the Danish Year of the Brain 1997 because it may serve as a model for other countries. It was possible in Denmark to organize a very large scale effort which has been well received by the general public and which has significantly improved the image of the neurological disciplines. The resources spent on nationwide initiatives in the Danish Year of the Brain are more than 2 million ECU in a country with 5 million inhabitants. In addition, however, considerable amounts were spent in each county of Denmark. Since all professionals have worked for free, innumerable hours of work have not been budgeted. In fact, the Danish Year of the Brain has been the largest privately organized health campaign ever held in Denmark and it has been so successful that the Danish Heart Association, which is old, well organized and extremely strong financially, has been worried about the shift of attention from the heart to the brain. Copyright 1998 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins