Epilepsy Follow-Up 6/7

We had our first round of follow-up activities with our original three communities this past week. We returned to the villages to record the number of seizures people experienced now that they are taking medicine to compare it to the time before, gave out new doses of medicine, and did some education. Generally, people reported fewer seizures than previously experienced. People seemed to be very happy with the new medication. For example, in my village, the health center finally received a delivery of epilepsy medication. It is the first time in over a year that the health center has had it stocked. However, most of Africa (and many other third world countries), are currently using a drug that has long since been abandoned by developed countries like the US or parts of Europe. The medicine that we are supplying is one of the more powerful and modern epilepsy medications. CODEF has it imported from England. Every person in my poor farming village chose to spend 3,000 CFA (equivalent to $6 for a month’s supply) to get the drugs we provided instead of taking the much cheaper drugs provided by the health center, which only cost 150 CFA. The old drugs are apparently just not as effective. People reported seeing and feeling a true difference in their life after only a month on the new medicine and were very happy about it. Other villages are still without any medicine at the health center and are relieved to be getting access to any type of medication whatsoever. I also gave some educational talks about the causes of epilepsy and how to react when someone has a seizure. Many people still believe that epilepsy is caused by witchcraft and believe that some sort of jealous family member has put a curse on them. We described the possible causes that have been scientifically proven, and showed how some of the instances that they believe are caused by witchcraft could actually have a different cause. Even more importantly, we reviewed how to care for a person when they have an episode. In some cases, people try to hold the person down to prevent shaking, or try to hit or beat the person to wake them or get the evil out during the seizure. These methods can be very harmful to the person, so we taught people better ways to care for them. We explained that the person should not be touched or restrained. The area around them should be cleared of furniture or sharp objects. The person should not be moved, unless they were in immediate danger. This last one is especially important since it is not uncommon for women with epilepsy to be cooking and fall into the fire during an episode. In some instances, people are afraid to touch or move the person, which can lead to the woman being left in the fire until her seizure is over. Finally, we expanded to two new villages and acquired 25 new patients, bringing the total to around 75 patients being helped by this program. We are already getting ready for our next session, which will take place at the end of the month!