‘A treatable mental disorder,not a supernatural phenomenon’

Karachi

In the absence of proper treatment facilities and awareness, epilepsy, otherwise a fully curable neurological disorder was unfortunately considered a supernatural phenomenon by families in Pakistan, observed neurologists on Monday.

Organised by the Pakistan Society of Neurology (PSN), the walk was held to discourage the practice of taking epileptic patients to faith healers and quacks, a practice that had continued to render their lives extremely painful.

Attended by school children, teachers and doctors, the participants of the walk wore T-shirts and carried placards calling for the mental condition to be taken seriously.

PSN President Dr Muhammad Wasey Shakir regretted that there were around two million patients of epilepsy in Pakistan, of which more than one million were children who had no access to treatment facilities.

The eminent neurologist claimed that hardly 25 percent of epileptic children managed to receive treatment as majority of parents either considered it a condition influenced by demonic forces.

Despite there being limited treatment facilities, Pakistan had qualified neurologists who could cure epilepsy, claimed Dr Shakir.

“Those suffering from epilepsy could prove equally competitive in their professional careers as those not suffering from the condition.”

Paediatric Neurologist, Dr Atif Saeed Anjum, of the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) also seconded Dr Shakir’s opinion that epileptic children could easily deal with day-to-day business if they were given proper treatment.

He also informed the participants of the rehabilitation work being carried out by the International Maternal and Child Health Foundation (IMCHF) for children born with hereditary neurological disorders.

PSN secretary Dr Abdul Malik and others also attended the walk.