‘Only 25 percent of epilepsy patients have access to treatment’

Karachi
Health experts and neurologists have deplored that only 25 percent of epilepsy patients have access to treatment in Pakistan.
At an awareness session on the neurological disorder at a local hotel on Saturday, they said while around 150,000 patients were devoid of any treatment, whatsoever.
Renowned neurologist Dr Fauzia Siddiqui said, “Epilepsy is 70 percent curable disease and in some cases patients are living a healthy life after treatment, but unfortunately a vast majority in Pakistan suffering from neurological disorder has no access to quality treatment facilities.”
The awareness programme and launching of a DVD regarding its symptoms and treatment were jointly organised by the Pakistan Society of Neurology and Neurology Awareness and Research Foundation.
Dr. Fauzia said one type of epilepsy, known as Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS), also known as Lennox syndrome, is a difficult to treat form of childhood onset epilepsy that most often appears between the second and sixth year of life.
“In all over the world, children suffering from LGS are only around 2.5 percent of total patients but in Pakistan, this number is seven percent, which is quite higher as compared to regional countries also”, she informed the gathering.
The neurologist claimed that every day hundreds of epileptic patients visit the OPDs of public hospitals in the country, but unfortunately most of the doctors were not quite trained to treat various types of epilepsy.
“Due to lack of knowlege among doctors regarding the types of epilepsy and difference in treatment of each type, patients don’t get benefitted from the treatment and they approach quacks and faith-healers for the treatment, which often result in disasters.”
She said that there were around 50 guidelines for the treatment of patients with epilepsy in accordance with their age groups and added that 25 of the 30 medicines used in treating epilepsy patients were available in Pakistan. In his presentation, Prof. Wasey Shakir said most of the doctors were not aware and trained to diagnose epilepsy and they start irrelevant treatment and he stressed on need for training and awareness regarding epilepsy.
He claimed that most of the medicines for the treatment of epilepsy were very cheap and available in Pakistan and added that experts were available in Pakistan, who could diagnose and treat epilepsy.
Prof. Shakir said epilepsy is considered as a taboo and untreatable disease while many people consider it some kind of paranormal thing and approach to quacks and faith-healers, whose practices often complicate the disease and make it worse for both the patients and their loved ones.
Dr. Naila Shahbaz, Dr Rasheed Soomro of Ziauddin Medical University, Prof Zia-ur-Rehman of Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr. Abdul Malik and Naveed Akhtar also spoke.