Noted neurophysician of the country and President Epilepsy Foundation Pakistan Dr Fowzia Siddiqui has said that the disease of epilepsy is a serious health issue, as about 70 percent patients of this disease are not getting proper medical treatment due to different reasons, adding only 35 percent patients in urban areas and 8 percent patients in rural areas are being treated.
Addressing at a free epilepsy clinic at Bahadurabad, here on Monday on the occasion of the Intl. Epilepsy Day, She said there are 65 million epilepsy patients in the world and 2.4 million patients in Pakistan alone.
She told that this disease is more common in children than adults. It is more prevalent in rural areas. About 5000 deaths are reported every year due to this disease.
Dr Fowzia said that sadly about 50 percent of patients who take medicines are not properly treated.
She said; however, epilepsy is a treatable disease and its 70 percent patients could be treated with only one anti-epileptic medicine. She said that the burden of epilepsy is high in Pakistan. She said that epilepsy care is suboptimal, as awareness amongst both doctors and patients is low.
She said treating this neurological disorder needs a multidisciplinary discipline. She said cost and availability of medicines play a vital role in treatment of epilepsy. She said there are more than 25 medicines to treat this ailment. She said there are first line and new generation medicines.
She said the cost of treatment ranges from Rs50 to Rs10000 per month. She said surgical instruments to treat this disease are available at only one center. She said in government hospitals new AED is not available. She said treatment gap in this ailment should be avoided as it may make thing worse.
