The Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) have embarked on an initiative to help address the management of epilepsy throughout the country.
The project titled: “Fight Against Epilepsy,” is aimed at reducing the treatment gap, integrate epilepsy care into primary health care and reduce stigma through community mobilization.
A statement issued in Accra by Dr Cynthia Sottie, National Coordinator Epilepsy Project GHS and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday, said the project has been implemented in ten districts.
The statement said so far over 4000 people living with epilepsy have gain treatment thereby reducing the treatment gab by one-third.
The districts are: Tolon, Kumbungu, Savelugu, Nanton, Ashiedu Keteke, Ho-West, Kpando, Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira, Asikuma Odoben Brakwa, West Akim and Birim Central, making five out of the ten regions.
It said since the inception of the project 700 non-specialist health care providers such as doctors, nurses, physician assistants, mid-wives and pharmacists have been trained in the management of epilepsy to curtail the canker.
It said the major obstacles faced by Ghana included the inadequate supplies, poor access to anti-epilepsy medications, lack of primary health workers, appropriately trained to diagnose and treat epilepsy, social stigma, misinformation, traditional beliefs and limited opportunities for specialty training in neurology to boost specialist numbers.
It thus added that the initiative has demonstrated that there are simple, cost effective ways to treat epilepsy in resource poor settings that can significantly reduce epilepsy treatment gab, adding that there was the need to scale up.
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