Organizational Update: World Stroke Organization.

O ur 2014 World Stroke Organization (WSO) annual report will shortly be published (http://www.world-stroke.org/) outlining the developments in 2014, a remarkable year! It is an exciting time for the global stroke scene, with recent publications demonstrating the benefits of endovas-cular thrombectomy in selected patients with acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion. This major advance will be incorporated in Advanced Stroke Care Services detailed in our recent WSO Global Stroke Services Guidelines, the first global guideline for stroke, which was released in October 2014. The document is available as open access in the International Journal of Stroke. The WSO is facilitated by partnerships with major stroke organizations around the world, such as the American Stroke Association, European Stroke Organization and Asian Pacific Stroke Organization, as well as many other important regional and national bodies. We congratulate Kennedy Lees and the organizers of the first European Stroke Organization Congress held in Glasgow, April 2015. Advocacy for stroke is a key mission for WSO. We recently convened our first Advocacy Workshop in Glasgow, aimed at developing a 3-year plan to facilitate communication updates in both developing and developed countries. Our global campaign, I am Woman: Stroke Affects Me, is our theme in 2014 to 2015 and highlights the greater effect of stroke on women around the world, including their disproportionate share of the caregiver burden. Our campaign committee received >40 entries for our World Stroke Day awards. The 2014 WSD awards were first place gold to the American Stroke Association, second place silver to the Brazilian Academy of Neurology, Brazilian Stroke Society, Brazilian Stroke Network, Brazilian Stroke Association, and third place bronze to the Pakistan Stroke Society. The WSO awarded the individual prize to Rosette Kajungu Mutambi from Mbarara, Uganda. Her campaign targeted women in Mbarara and was aimed at breaking the myth that being fat is a sign of success. A common theme of these submissions was the use of mass communications and social media to spread the message that stroke is a largely preventable and treatable condition. We are pleased to announce 2 new Honorary Lifetime Memberships of WSO, recognizing the outstanding contributions of Wolf-Dieter Heiss and Shanthi Mendis. Dieter Heiss was a superb former President of the International Stroke Society (the forerunner of the WSO) and has made pivotal research contributions to our field, particularly in the pathophysiology of acute stroke and the ischemic penum-bra. Shanthi Mendis has recently …