Iceland takes nervous system to UN
Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General. Photo: AFP
Iceland is at the forefront of efforts to get research in the field of nervous-system disease and damage onto the international political agenda.
Over 26,000 Icelanders have put their name to a letter sent in May to United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, urging the UN to formally set ‘Promote Research on the Nervous System’ as an official Development Goal at its next General Assembly in September.
“This is a huge opportunity for a small country to take the lead in such an important project,” says Auður Guðjónsdóttir, Chairperson of the Icelandic Institute of Spinal Cord Injury (ISCI). “Around a billion people worldwide have suffered some form of nervous-system damage.”
The Icelandic Parliament (‘Alþingi’) has passed a resolution calling for Iceland to work towards getting nervous-system research onto the UN list of development goals and the Prime Minister’s office has sent a letter to the other Nordic countries asking for their support in achieving this goal.
“Imagine the glory for Iceland if research delivers results,” says Guðjónsdóttir. “Everything now depends on what the government decides to do.”
The full text of the Icelandic letter to the UN can be found here. You can also listen to a message from Icelandic President, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, in the video below:
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