Iceland gets the nervous system in writing at the United Nations

Last June 8 associations of people with nervous disorders and injuries in Iceland, in addition to nearly 26 thousand Icelanders – about 11% of the population – sent a letter to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General to the United Nations requesting that the United Nations make “increasing the understanding on the functions of the nervous system” one of the new development goals that were to be enacted by the institution last September. We did not reach our goal, but we did manage to get the nervous system mentioned in a political statement by world leaders. The nervous system is therefore mentioned in writing at the United Nations as one of the issues to be tackled in the next 15 years.

Declaration no. 26.

To promote physical and mental health and well-being, and to extend life expectancy for all, we must achieve universal health coverage and access to quality health care. No one must be left behind. We commit to accelerating the progress made to date in reducing newborn, child and maternal mortality by ending all such preventable deaths before 2030. We are committed to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education. We will equally accelerate the pace of progress made in fighting malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis, Ebola and other communicable diseases and epidemics, including by addressing growing anti-microbial resistance and the problem of unattended diseases affecting 7 developing countries. We are committed to the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases, including behavioural, developmental and neurological disorders, which constitute a major challenge for sustainable development.