
 
21
ème
 Congrès de la PAANS – Grand-Bassam – 23-25 Avril 2014 
21
st
 PAANS Congress – Grand-Bassam – April 2014, 23-25
th  
Page 5 
 
«  AKWABA »  
 
Dear Congresswomen and Congressmen, 
In the name of the Local Organizating Committee (LOC), I wish the participants of the 
21
st
 congress of the PAANS : the traditional « AKWABA ! », welcome in Ivory Coast, at Grand- 
Bassam, city full of history. 
The  topics  of  this  21
st
  congress  are  related  to  diseases  which  have  had  spectacular 
therapeutic    progress    but  still  often,  remain  unfortunately  inaccessible  or  at  the  embryonic 
stage in Africa. Particularly for strokes, neuropathic pains, sellar, parasellar tumors and some 
epilepsies  with  the  new  generation  of  drugs  against  epilepsy,  which  have  pushed  back  the 
concept of pharmaco-resistant epilepsy. 
As all the other congresses of the PAANS, this 21
st
 congress remains a forum for sharing 
experiences between African specialists and colleagues from other continents. It will also offer 
a  training  of  the  young  specialists  in  neurosciences  thanks  to  the  course  in  neurology  and 
neurosurgery, which will be held before the meeting. This course will be given by some experts 
of  the  SFN,  the  SFNC  and  SNLF ;  who  we  welcome  with  great  pleasure  and  thank  very 
sincerely. 
In the light of our african contexts, facing the increasing challenges met in the practice 
of  our  specialities ;  we  have  decided  with  the  Executive  Council  to  select  an  additional 
objective  in order  to reach  the  international standards by  identifying the best  strategy.  For 
each main topic, the result of a survey in Africa will be followed by a conference delivered by 
an expert on the current state of the Art. 
The wish of the LOC is that this 21st congress of the PAANS leads to concrete actions to 
move forward the situation of neurology and neurosurgery in Africa. This is why, dear African 
congresswomen and congressmen, I would like to urge us to resolutely adopt a dynamic and 
concrete attitude through the congresses of the PAANS with the principle of a follow-up and a 
regular evaluation of our work every 2 years during the next meetings of our association. 
 
Have a great and fruitful work session ! 
Enjoy your stay in Côte d’Ivoire ! 
 
Pr SONAN- DOUAYOUA Thérèse 
President 
Local Organizating Committee 
Ivorian Society of Neurology