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UN health agency calls for better prevention and treatment of epilepsy

UN health agency calls for better prevention and treatment of epilepsy

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Urging governments to improve the prevention and treatment of epilepsy, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) is spotlighting the neurological disease, which induces seizures in at least 50 million people worldwide, with a new report on its occurrence in the Western Pacific region.

The First Beijing International Forum for Epilepsy will launch the regional report tomorrow, entitled Epilepsy in the Western Pacific Region: A call to action, with a call for more action in support of public education, community-based prevention programmes, anti-epilepsy organizations, legislative reform, research, and better information exchange within and among countries.

While epilepsy is preventable and treatable with relatively safe and inexpensive drugs, in developing countries about 70 to 90 per cent of people with the disease do not receive appropriate treatment or care, said WHO's Dr. Wang Xiangdong. Meanwhile, "epilepsy imposes enormous physical, psychological, social and economic burdens on individuals, families and countries, especially due to misunderstanding, fear and stigma."

Cost-efficient treatments were available to help up to 70 per cent of epileptics live fulfilling, productive, seizure-free lives, Dr. Wang said.