Breaking barriers and fighting inequality in Parkinson's disease care: Personal reflections of movement disorders clinicians.

Parkinson's disease (PD) care remains profoundly unequal across and within countries, despite major advances in understanding and treatment. Drawing on PD specialists' personal stories of real-world experiences from diverse regions across Asia, Africa, and South America, this paper highlights the key barriers to equitable PD care and identifies pragmatic, scalable solutions. Across settings, several major barriers consistently emerge: a critical shortage and uneven distribution of trained specialists; geographic disparities limiting access to care; substantial financial barriers, particularly for comprehensive and advanced therapies; fragmented healthcare systems lacking integration and multidisciplinary support; and low public awareness and persistent stigma, leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Strategies to address these challenges include workforce development through training, mentorship, and international collaboration; bringing expertise and services closer to patients via outreach programs and the use of "simple" technologies such as telemedicine and mobile communication platforms; ensuring universal access to essential medications, particularly levodopa; integrating multidisciplinary care models; public awareness campaigns and support groups empowering patients and caregivers and reducing stigma; and embedding research into routine care. The experiences presented here illustrate that meaningful progress is achievable through pragmatic solutions, collaborative networks, and sustained commitment to patient-centered care.