The International Headache Week Upcoming

By Risako Shirane, MD MSc
Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology at Yale School of Medicine
Affiliated Faculty, Yale Institute for Global Health

International Headache Week (IHW), set to take place March 15-21, 2026, is a global initiative led by Lifting The Burden (LTB) to raise awareness of the burden of headache disorders worldwide.

IHW presents a unique opportunity for the global headache community to raise our voices together to shed light on the suffering of individuals affected by headache disorders and to demand actions from politicians and policymakers.

The theme for this year’s IHW is: “Almost 2.9 billion people have a headache disorder”. There are seven key messages that will be released across medial channels throughout the week. These messages have been carefully crafted based on the data from the most recent Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study.

Among the organizations joining LTB’s efforts in promoting this year’s IHW include the American Headache Society, European Headache Federation, European Headache & Migraine Alliance, International Headache Society, the Global Patient Advocacy Coalition for Headache, and the Japanese Headache Society. Through collective advocacy around key messages each year, LTB hopes for IHW to be adopted by the World Health Organization in the coming years.

LTB is a UK-based charity that leads the Global Campaign against Headache, with a mission to reduce the burden of headache worldwide.