Global Neurocritical Care

The Age of Sustainable Development that began in 2015 with international adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) marked a new era that prioritized achievement of global health equity in all areas of healthcare delivery, including medico-surgical treatments for the world’s most burdensome neurological and neurosurgical disorders. In this context, universal access to neurocritical care has emerged as fundamental requirement of essential neurological and neurosurgical care, even in the most resource-constrained environments. This chapter introduces many of the issues, challenges, and opportunities inherent to the social, economic, and moral imperatives to assure equitable access to neurocritical care services. Following introductory comments about the SDG era, we present concepts in advocacy and training from the various global health movements that intersect in global neurocritical care, including global surgery, global neurosurgery, global neurology, and global critical care. Research priorities for centering the global neurocritical care workforce are discussed, and we provide instructive global narratives from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The chapter concludes with reflections on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global conversations about access to essential critical care services, and the importance of global advocacy, education, and research in the pursuit of universal, equitable access to neurocritical care.