healthcare

Situated at the north-eastern end of the Mediterranean basin, Cyprus is the third largest island in the region, with an area of 9,251 square kilometers (3,572 square miles). Cyprus is a small island with a long history and a rich culture that spans 10,000 years, making it one of the oldest civilizations in the Mediterranean area. Situated at the crossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa - the island’s unique geographic position has played an important part in its turbulent past since antiquity. The island was divided in 1974 following the Turkish invasion.

Under the leadership of Jes Olesen, Denmark, the European Brain Council (EBC) has developed a ‘cost of brain disease’ project in the last decade, which essentially became one of the most important databases for the development of European Research policy. In 2012 the costs for neurological disease alone were estimated to be 303 billion €/year and the costs for all brain diseases added up to 798 billion €/year, which is about 6 times the budget of the European Union.

European institutions are sometimes discredited and put into questions. This is particularly true in these times of populistic political movements which try to steer the wheel of European unification backwards. Reasons given by opponents are that ‘European efforts are considered too slow, too burocratic and too inflexible’. ‘There are too many cooks preparing the meal’. Sometimes we hear this also from scientists. The logical conclusion is to spend the money at home in their own countries. The latter view is sometimes even expressed by people who in principle share the European perspective. Populistic politicians go so far to even question the whole EU project. In this respect medical research community can make an argument and a big contribution to the understanding why the EU is important.

During the second EAN congress in Copenhagen, the current board of the EAN has been reappointed with a very strong majority and as the first president elect of the newly structured board, Franz Fazekas from Graz, Austria was elected. He will be the next president in two years from now. The board and myself thank the delegates for this confidence shown to us. We interpret this as a strong mandate to follow and expand the tracks that we have already started to follow. This is to briefly outline two of these avenues. Meanwhile, the major goals for our Society are outlined in the strategic plan.