The Minister of Health, Mr Alexander Segbefia, has called for a multi-disciplinary approach to the management of epilepsy, stressing that even though it is a medical condition, it is also a social health issue.
He said currently, 21,250 people living with epilepsy out of the 25,000 in the country were not on any treatment, emphasising that there was a high treatment gap that should be addressed.
Speaking on the theme, “Epilepsy care, a shared responsibility,” in Accra, Mr Segbefia said “the disease exerts a lot of psychological effect on epileptics and their family members, which sometimes leads to social isolation”.
He was opening a two-day end-of-project review on the Fight Against Epilepsy Initiative (FAEI) last Tuesday.
The workshop, which brought together stakeholders from across the sub-Saharan region who had participated in similar projects in their respective countries, was organised by the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Treatment gap
Mr Segbefia attributed the treatment gap to inadequate treatment services, a situation which excluded a large number of affected individuals from effective treatment.
Meanwhile, he said, “Persons living with epilepsy can be treated with single, inexpensive, standard oral anti-epileptic medicines.”
He said the Ministry of Health for its part had collaborated with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the FAEI to improve access to health care for people living with epilepsy, adding that the workshop would help his outfit to identify specific areas for improvement in epilepsy care.
Progress
Mr Segbefia said through the FAEI, Ghana had trained 850 people across the country, adding that the initiative had led to a 28 per cent reduction in the treatment gap.
He said more than 500 primary health care providers and 330 community-based volunteers had been trained in the management of epilepsy.
FAEI
The Fight Against Epilepsy Initiative (FAEI), a four-year project which was launched in 2012, is aimed at improving access to basic health care and services for persons with epilepsy, as well as raise awareness of the treatment of the disease.
It is also aimed at prioritising the treatment of epilepsy in the national health agenda and involves non-specialist providers in epilepsy care.
