Ghana to play leading role in fight against epilepsy

Ghana is to take a lead role in the fight against epilepsy which seeks to address treatment gap in the management of the disease in the country.

A press release issued to the GNA in Accra on Monday quoted Dr. Cynthia Sottie, National Coordinator, Fight Against Epilepsy Initiative, as saying the goal of the project “is to improve access to basic health care and services for people with epilepsy, raise awareness, place treatment of epilepsy as a priority in the national health agenda and involve non-specialists providers in epilepsy care”.

Dr. Sottie, further noted that: “the project aims at reducing stigma and increasing demand for epilepsy care in the country.”

She indicated “epilepsy exerts a lot of psychological effect on epileptics and their family members which sometimes leads to social isolation”, adding that the disease is not only a medical condition but also a social health issue that requires multi-disciplinary approach to its management.

The pilot project, which was launched in Tolon-Kumbungu district in the Northern Region, is to be replicated in Ashiedu Keteke sub-metro in the greater Accra region after which Ghana would take total ownership of the project and scale it up to the rest of the regions.

Epilepsy is a treatable disorder of the brain, which affect 50 million people in the world of which about 85% of them live in poor countries like Ghana.

Source: GNA