Barriers to Migraine Care in Sub-Saharan Africa – July 31, 2025
This webinar explored the challenges in migraine care and the opportunities for improved management in sub-Saharan Africa, featuring expert panelists from across the region and the U.S.
Key Highlights
Widespread misdiagnosis of migraine as malaria, tension-type headache, or hypertension, combined with neurologist shortages and patient self-diagnosis, leads to delayed care, inappropriate treatments, medication overuse, and worsening disability.
Migraine is widely misunderstood, often seen as a mere headache or emotional weakness, leading to a lack of empathy and misjudgment at home, work, and in healthcare systems.
Migraine treatment across the region is limited by healthcare system disparities, with basic drugs like NSAIDs and amitriptyline widely used, triptans and Botox available only in select settings, newer therapies like gepants and CGRP inhibitors are largely absent, behavioral approaches underutilized, and digital tools showing promise despite stigma, access, and quality concerns.
Migraine remains underrecognized in health policy due to a lack of national data, limited insurance coverage except for Rwanda, and minimal advocacy; despite strong evidence, such as Zambia’s 23% migraine prevalence and 3% GDP loss, policy uptake is slow, access remains uneven, especially for women, and sustained investment in research, clinician advocacy, and international collaboration is urgently needed.
Strengthen migraine care primary healthcare providers, promoting headache journals for patient self-management, leveraging radio and storytelling to counter myths, prioritizing affordable treatments over high-cost options, engaging with international societies for shared learning, and exploring AI tools to enhance diagnosis and treatment accuracy.
