• Cristina Tassorelli, Ingemar Farm, Hilkka Kettinen, Elena Ruiz de la Torre, Srdjan Stretenovic, Wendy Thomas, Peter Vriezen, Leo Van Os, Dietmar Krause, and Audrey Craven.
• Headache Science Centre, C, Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy. cristina.tassorelli@mondino.it.
• J Headache Pain. 2014 Apr 17; 15: 20.

AbstractAccess to care for headache sufferers is not always simple. A survey conducted in a large number of members of lay associations point to the existence of multiple barriers to care for headache in several European countries. Patients usually discover the existence of specialized structures with a delay of several years after the onset of their headache. Furthermore, a relevant portion of them are not satisfied with the management of their disease, partly because of the poor efficacy of treatments and partly because of the difficulty to get in touch with the specialist. Headache disorders, and primary headaches in particular, represent an important issue in public health, because they are common, disabling and treatable. A joint effort is required from the relevant stakeholders (scientists, lay organizations, decision-makers, healthcare policymakers, and others) to improve the access to care for headache sufferers.

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