In a milestone event for the World Muscle Society, the inaugural meeting of the Africa–Middle East Expert Network for Neuromuscular Disorders was held on April 22nd as part of the WMS regional chapters initiative. This first meeting of members across the region is part of a wider programme of regional meetings, which has been developed and supported by Rasha El Sherif and Hernán Gonorazky working with the “Myology Developments Across the World” Committee.

Expert myologists, clinicians, researchers, and advocates from across the region gathered in a powerful show of unity and shared purpose. The discussions surfaced critical regional challenges, from the need for local genetics and muscle pathology labs in Senegal, highlighted by Dr. Pedro Rodriguez, to the hurdles in establishing an SMA patient registry in Tunisia, raised by Dr. Emna Farhat.

In the spirit of collaboration, Dr. Hebatallah Rashed proposed the creation of a regional website forum for sharing clinical cases and pathology slides, while Dr. Rasha offered Egypt's experience as a model for patient registry development.

Enthusiasm was high as participants unanimously agreed to establish a monthly meeting series and begin working toward a multicenter project focused on education and research. This first gathering not only set the stage for actionable progress but also reflected the growing strength of the WMS regional chapters initiative in building global bridges for neuromuscular care. While this meeting was the first of the Africa-Middle East group, there are regional meetings planned for each of the global regions, aimed at facilitating collaboration, learning and support across each region.