270,000 people live epilepsy in Ghana – Prof Ohene
About 270,000 people live with epilepsy in Ghana, the head of Psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Professor Sammy Ohene has said.
According to him only 40,500 have access to treatment and care representing 15 per cent whilst 229,500 do not have access to any form of treatment or care representing a treatment gap of 85 per cent.
He said this at an epilepsy seminar organised by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in partnership with the Epilepsy Society of Ghana (ESG) in Accra last Thursday.
Held on the theme “Epilepsy is a treatable disease” the seminar sought to provide a platform for stakeholders to discuss the condition and provide sustainable solutions to end stigma.
He added that many non-neurologists and non-psychiatric doctors shy away from treating Persons Living With Epilepsy (PLWEs) which was further widening the gap hence the need for urgent action.
“Overwhelming majority of epilepsy patients who come for care are seen by nurses and doctors who mostly have access to only phenobarbitone and carbamazepine drugs although there are other drugs that are equally efficient for treating the condition,” he said.
Prof Ohene said that over the last three decades, there has been an explosion of new anti-epileptic medications however most of the new drugs were still unavailable for use in Ghana explaining that “Lamotrigine is probably the only relatively available one, even then its use in epilepsy is limited and used more for psychiatric conditions.”
On bridging the existing treatment gap he recommended that “we must start by training more doctors and physician assistants to be comfortable treating epilepsy; encourage appropriate use of existing anti-epileptic drugs and introduce newer ones; explore the therapeutic potential of our herbs, cannabinoids, ketogenic diets, epilepsy surgery.”
The head of the Neurology Unit at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Albert Akpalu stated that with about 270,000 PLWEs only 15 per cent were receiving treatment and care, resulting in an epilepsy treatment gap of 85per cent.
“As epilepsy is the most prevalent neuropsychiatric condition seen in rural health clinics and among the top five medical problems in the country, national health authorities identified it as a high priority in 2011,” he said.
He expressed worry over the limited number and capacity of the workforce, the absence of national policies, and the high levels of stigma and discrimination meted out against PWEs in rural areas.
Speaking on the surgical indications in consideration of epilepsy surgery, the Director of the Institutional Care Division at the GHS, Prof Samuel Kaba Akoriyea said that surgery was not the first line of treatment as other modes of treatment needed to be explored first.
“A person whose seizures had been uncontrollable for two years, at least two AEDs have failed to control the seizures,” should be considered for surgery, he added.
He urged all PLWEs to seek medical care as anyone with the condition could have a normal life and live better than those without the condition.
BY JESSEL LARTEY THERSON-COFIE
