Increase awareness on epilepsy to reduce stigmatization- Foundation

 
The Epilepsy Foundation Ghana has appealed to health professionals and families to give attention to people living with epilepsy and increase awareness to reduce stigmatization.
The Epilepsy Foundation, Ghana (EFGH) is an outfit of a concerned group of Ghanaians dedicated to intervening in the incidence of epilepsy in Ghana. The group wishes to bring out the brain impairment out of the secret closet of superstition and hidden shame that has hitherto been associated with the condition, as if it were some affliction imposed by witchcraft or other supernatural reality.
According to them, it is important to demystify epilepsy as just being one of several unfortunate human conditions that have causes and, therefore, ways of managing or even treating them for the long haul.
Speaking at this year’s World Epilepsy Day on the  Theme ‘’ Friendship and Inclusion Bring the Epilepsy Out of The Closet,’’ the founder and convener of Epilepsy Foundation Ghana, Mr. Mike Amon Kwafo noted that there are different kinds of  seizures are associated with epilepsy.
This, according to the group, will bring epilepsy out of the closet and help them live a normal life.
He said, Epilepsy is simply a group of disorders triggered in the brain. The common characteristic is the tendency for recurrent seizures, which may be mild or undetectable for brief moments, or more intense with vigorous abnormal shaking for longer periods.
On his part, Dr Albert Akpalu, a lecturer at the  University of Ghana Medical School urged Ghanaians to support and encourage epileptics to live normal lives.
He said epilepsy once diagnosed can go away adding,  “do not despise people with epilepsy because epilepsy is not contagious as many have assumed’’.
Many individuals with epilepsy are perceived by the community as weak, inhuman, dangerous or inferior because of their symptoms, and as a result of the stigma, these people are excluded.
But epilepsy is treatable and up to 70 per cent of the seizure can be cured and the risk of re-occurrence is about 25 percent.
He explained that currently there are 21 drugs for the cure of epilepsy and in Ghana, four of the most affordable are listed on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
International Epilepsy Day is a special event celebrated across 120 countries to raise awareness and educate the public about the facts and myths of epilepsy and the need to seek immediate medical assistance.
The International Epilepsy Day, which was celebrated on February 10, marked a year since the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly passed a resolution on epilepsy. The resolution called for global action to recognize and address the global burden of epilepsy.
The Day is a special event celebrated across 120 countries to raise awareness and educate the public about the facts and myths of epilepsy and the need to seek immediate medical assistance.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Queenel Delali Kukey