The Eurolight Project
(Highlighting the Impact of Headache in Europe)
The Eurolight Project is a collaborative data-collection exercise initiated by the Centre de Recherche Public de la Santé (CRP-Santé) in Luxembourg and supported by the European Agency for Health and Consumers (EAHC).
The project brings together 25 partners from 15 countries: two public bodies, clinicians from 11 hospitals and representatives of 12 professional or lay non-governmental organizations. It is directed by a Project Steering Committee and overseen by an External Evaluation Board.
Its first purpose is to estimate, in Europe, the prevalence and impact of headache disorders of public-health importance (migraine, tension-type headache and chronic headache disorders occurring on more days than not). Its second purpose is to use this information to raise awareness, among the general public, health-care professionals, health policy-makers and governments of Europe, of headache as a major cause of public ill-health. Its ultimate aim is to contribute to the improvement of health care for headache and the quality of life of people affected by headache disorders in Europe.
Data collection was undertaken from November 2008 to August 2009. Surveys were conducted by structured questionnaire of population samples from ten countries of Europe representing 60% of the adult population of the European Union: Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The results are being published in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Project partners
Project Steering Committee
Colette Andrée, CRP-Santé, Luxembourg (chairman and project leader)
Zaza Katsarava, University of Essen, Germany
Miguel Lainez, Fundacion para la Investigacion Biomédica, la Docencia y la Cooperacion Internacional, Valencia, Spain
Christian Lampl, Konventhospital Barmherzige Brüder, Linz, Austria
Michel Lanteri-Minet, CHU-Hôpital Pasteur, Département d'Evaluation et de Traitement de la Douleur, Nice, France
Elena Ruiz de la Torre, Asociacion Española de Pacientes con Cefalea, Valencia, Spain
Timothy Steiner, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, and Imperial College London, London, UK
Lars Jacob Stovner, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and St Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
Cristina Tassorelli, Centro Italiano di Ricerche Neurologiche Applicate (CIRNA) and Headache Science Centre, National Neurological Research Institute C Mondino Foundation and University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
Peter Vriezen, Nederlandse Vereniging van Hoofdpijnpatienten, Amersfoort, The Netherlands
External Evaluation Board
Fabio Antonaci (then President, European Headache Federation)
Hilkka Kettinen (General Secretary, European Headache Alliance)
Peter Sàndor, Universitätsspital Zürich, Zürich Switzerland
Jean Schoenen, Citadelle Hospital, Liège, Belgium
Associated Partners
Gérard Mick, Réseau Voironnais de la Douleur
Daiva Rastenyte, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Anne MacGregor, The City of London Migraine Clinic, London, UK
Asociacion Española de Pacientes con Cefalea (Spain)
Migraine Action (UK)
Migraine Association of Ireland (Ireland)
Nederlandse Vereniging van Hoofdpijnpatienten (The Netherlands)
European Headache Alliance
European Headache Federation
Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign against Headache
Collaborating Partners
Judit Afra, National Institute of Neurosurgery, Budapest, Hungary
Marta Allena, National Neurological Research Institute C Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
Bruno Carugno, Azienda Sanitaria Locale of Pavia, Italy
Jean-Marie Gérard, Ligue Belge Contre les Cephalées, Nimy, Belgium
Heidy Hauser, Migraine Action Switzerland, Bottmingen, Switzerland
Carlo Lucchina, Regione Lombardia - Sanità, Italy
Giuseppe Nappi, National Neurological Research Institute C Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
Konventhospital Barmherzige Brüder, Linz, Austria
Neurology Group of the Spanish Society of Occupational Practitioners (AEMMT)
Austrian Neurological Society (ÖGN)
Finnish Migraine Association