{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T12:07:41Z","timestamp":1792066061109,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1769472000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of disability but one of the least recognized health problems in the world, affecting up to 69 million people annually. The associated lifelong disability in survivors, the loss of economic productivity, and being a risk factor for dementia consume 0.5% of global economic activity. Yet TBI is still largely invisible in national surveillance systems and not well represented in chronic disease frameworks. Consequently, governments are not equipped to provide proportional financing of acute care and long-term care of survivors, nor to build health care systems and resources for improving outcomes of TBI through policy frameworks targeting prevention, treatment, and equitable access. Objective: This commentary aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the global effort to formally recognize TBI as a notifiable and chronic condition, including the justifications for recognition, the formation of an international coalition of stakeholders, and the strategic plan for resolution at WHA79 of the World Health Assembly, one of the first concerted multinational efforts that occurred as a side event during the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) in May 2025. Methods: This commentary integrates information from epidemiological studies, global registries, and testimonies from people with lived experience of TBI. We analyze these data to develop policy needs and corresponding initiatives to address key needs. These include coordinated efforts to advocate change, such as technical briefings, consultations with stakeholders, and storytelling led by survivors, all of which informed and formed a part of the WHA78 side event. Our efforts have garnered wide, multi-sector support. Results: The WHA78 side event showed that ministries of health, neurosurgical, neurological, and rehabilitation societies, academic researchers, WHO representatives, and survivors all unprecedentedly support the recognition of the importance of TBI, facilitating national policies for its prevention and treatment via standardized surveillance. More than 30 non-governmental groups officially supported the campaign. A sponsoring member state made a public commitment to co-sponsor a WHA resolution, which set the stage for ongoing diplomatic progress and engagement across regions. Conclusion: To improve global brain health equity, access to long-term care, and the resilience of health systems, it is important to recognize TBI as a notifiable and chronic condition. A dedicated WHA resolution would make TBI a part of global health governance, making sure that it is counted, tracked, and dealt with as quickly and comprehensively as possible. It is both a technical necessity and a moral duty to help survivors and families and fight for justice in global health systems.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci16020134","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T11:35:42Z","timestamp":1769513742000},"page":"134","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Global Recognition of Traumatic Brain Injury as a Chronic and Notifiable Condition: A Post-WHA78 Advocacy Commentary"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8127-0664","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Almas F.","family":"Khattak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma and Aneshthesia Care (G4 Alliance) and Community Medicine, Northwest School of Medicine, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5187-140X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saniya","family":"Mediratta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N3BG, UK"},{"name":"NIHR Global Health Research Group on Acquired Brain and Spine Injury, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB20QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9541-0090","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Venturini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NIHR Global Health Research Group on Acquired Brain and Spine Injury, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB20QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8471-1368","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Brandon George","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul T.","family":"Dubetz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4001-9342","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ernest J.","family":"Barth\u00e9lemy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"One Brooklyn Health, Brookdale University Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11212, USA"},{"name":"SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5675-8791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexis F.","family":"Turgeon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Population Health and Optimal Health Practices Research Unit (Trauma-Emergency-Critical Care Medicine), CHU de Qu\u00e9bec\u2014Universit\u00e9 Laval Research Center, 1401, 18e Rue, Qu\u00e9bec City, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"Division of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pavillon Ferdinand-Vandry, 1050 Av. de la M\u00e9decine, Universit\u00e9 Laval, Qu\u00e9bec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3228-9692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"David Krishna","family":"Menon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0AW, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1676-2961","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bernice G.","family":"Gulek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Harborview Medical Center, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8676-1147","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mario","family":"Ganau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, BAU International University Batumi, 237 Fridon Khalvashi St., 6010 Batumi, Georgia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Halinder S.","family":"Mangat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10021, USA"},{"name":"Department of Neurology, Kansas University Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kathryn","family":"Hendrick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium, CHU de Qu\u00e9bec\u2014Universit\u00e9 Laval (H\u00f4pital de l\u2019Enfant-J\u00e9sus) 1401 18e Rue, Qu\u00e9bec City, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8557-706X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Taskeen Ullah","family":"Baber","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Surgery Regional Hub, Northwest School of Medicine, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yashma","family":"Sherwan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Surgery Regional Hub, Northwest School of Medicine, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6762-0106","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eylem","family":"Ocal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA"},{"name":"Arkansas Children\u2019s Hospital (ACH), Little Rock, AR 72223, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9121-5319","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kee B.","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Walt D.","family":"Johnson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Loma Linda University, 12354 Anderson Street, Loma Linda, CA 92354, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Franco","family":"Servadei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Global Neurosurgery Programme Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Giovanni Celoria 11, 20133 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gail","family":"Rosseau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2796-1835","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter J. A.","family":"Hutchinson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NIHR Global Health Research Group on Acquired Brain and Spine Injury, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB20QQ, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3014-6310","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tariq","family":"Khan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, Northwest General Hospital & Research Centre, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2025, July 14). World Health Assembly. Available online: https:\/\/www.who.int\/about\/governance\/world-health-assembly."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"(2025, July 14). Seventy-Eighth World Health Assembly. 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Sci."}],"container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3425\/16\/2\/134\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T11:42:15Z","timestamp":1769514135000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-3425\/16\/2\/134"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]]},"references-count":31,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]}},"alternative-id":["brainsci16020134"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/brainsci16020134","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-3425"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-3425","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]]}}}