ebook_ADHD2019_engl.

Searching the PUBMED or the Web of Science using the words: “ADHD or Attention Deficit Disorder”, your screen will immediately list almost fifty thousand references. If you google: “ADHD/Attention Deficit Disorder book” an equally numerous deluge of titles will be offered instantaneously. Thus, the first question is: Why another book on ADHD? As part of the current board of the World Federation of ADHD, the organizers of this book thought that our Federation has the unique responsibility to pay spe- cial attention to pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals in Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC). These colleagues have little or no access to evidence-based information on the disorder. So, this is not simply one more book “in the ocean of the ADHD literature”, it is the only book designed with several features to allow easy access by colleagues in LMIC coun- tries. These are as follows: First, the book will be open access. Professionals from LMICs rarely can afford buying books on specific disorders. Second, it will be an e-book. Distribution of hard copy books is too expensive for distributing to the great majority of profes- sionals in LMICs. Recent surveys worldwide have shown that over 3 billion people globally have a smartphone; 6 billion will have them by 2020. Smartphones are more ubiquitous than clean water, indoor plumbing, and stable electricity. Third, we have prepared versions in English, Spanish, and Chinese, which are the three most commonly spoken languages worldwide, allowing us to reach about 25% of the world’s population. Here we would like to thank specially our junior colla- borators: Adriana Arias Caballero, Frinné Galicia Moreno, Miriam T. Serment Azuara and Maria Rosa Palacios Heredia fromMexico, He Fan, Qi Yanjie, Huang Huanhuan, Qi Junhui, Chen Sijian, Luo Jie e Yin Shengjian from China, Fausto Campani, Julia Amaro and Marcio Sônego from Brazil for their inestimable efforts. PREFACE