Pediatric neurosurgery in the Middle East: present and future

The Middle East is the term used for more than ten countries with populations characterized by different ethnic roots and religions and with diverse political and economic power. It is probably the most unstable part of the whole world, having spent centuries struggling for a settled situation. Reflecting this political turmoil, the health problems and priorities in these countries are very different than in western countries. Medical associations, including neurosurgical associations, in most of these countries have very little communication with international societies compared with such associations in other parts of the world. Although one or two neurosurgeons in almost every country in the region enjoy some prominence in the international neurosurgical arena, almost no society-based relationships have been established among Middle East countries. Pediatric neurosurgery has been regarded as a subspecialty in the Middle East countries for the last two decades. Although it is not well organized except in Turkey and Israel, most of the countries in this region now have neurosurgeons who give special attention to pediatric neurosurgery within their general neurosurgical practice. Practicing neurosurgeons are few and and far between; there are certainly not enough of them to allow specialization in specific fields of neurosurgery in most countries in the Middle East. Moreover, owing to political and economic problems, most countries in the region are behind the standard neurosurgical agenda. Nonetheless, the flow rate of papers submitted to Child's Nervous System from several countries in the region has been slowly but progressively increasing. Hopefully, political stabilization in the near future will activate progress in pediatric neurosurgery along with neurosurgery in this region.