EHF Missions

The European Headache Federation (EHF) was founded in 1992 as a non profit organisation and registered as a charity in England and Wales (Registered Charity No.1084181).

Since its foundation in 1992, the European Headache Federation (EHF), a non-profit organisation, has sought to improve life for those affected by headache in Europe.

EHF dedicates its efforts to improving awareness amongst governments, health care providers and consumers across Europe of headache disorders and their personal and socioeconomic impact.

Ultimately EHF seeks to create the optimal environment for headache sufferers and their carers across all Europe, so that they have access to appropriate treatment and therefore enjoy a better quality of life.

With the changes in the political structure in Europe and, with it, health care systems and access to treatments, the EHF has reassessed its role and responsibilities by adopting an integrated strategy directed towards key players involved in primary and tertiary headache management.

EHF is currently implementing the following activities in support of its strategy:

Educating Europe

• The biennial EHF congress, reviewing the most recent developments in headache research and management, which will next take place in Valencia in April, 2006.
• The annual Summer Schools on headache and related disorders, to train young doctors and others from all Europe with an interest in headache as a speciality.
• Teaching activities focused on General Practitioners to spread the knowledge about headache to a wide audience.
• Offering logistic support and templates for national EHF members to run regional educational events.
• Publishing EHF News, distributed bimonthly across Europe.

The EHF is willing to collaborate in the development of educational programmes in all countries which need the EHF support. This is especially important in Eastern European countries, where attending meetings in very far places is somewhat difficult. All our educational activities should be directed to integrating all the professionals involved in headache management from primary to tertiary levels.

Creating awareness of issues in headache

• Establishing EHF as a key influencer in the headache field and becoming the single voice of headache in Europe, to which those who seek dialogue will turn.
• Thereby, in time, influencing political decision-making in the headache field in Europe, able to lobby governments for appropriate resourcing of headache services and improved access to care, teaching hospitals and universities to ensure that headache is recognised as a serious condition.
• Encouraging the formation of and supporting national headache societies in Europe with appropriate objectives, structures and governance.
• Through its members, promoting the appropriate organisation of culturally sensitive headache services.

Forging partnerships

• EHF will achieve its objectives through working with effective partnersinvolved in headache management in Europe. The Global Campaign launched in Copenhagen last year under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, World Headache Alliance, International Headache Society and EHF will allow us to work closer to governments and lay organizations and to put headache in the place that it should be.