Neurologists demand trained doctors, free medicines to epileptics

Thousands of people in Pakistan who suffer epilepsy turn mentally or physically handicapped every year due to lack of proper treatment of their neurological condition despite the fact that it is quite treatable. "Use of relevant medicines can help cure such patients but unfortunately authorities in Pakistan are not doing enough to alleviate sufferings of epileptics," said eminent neurologist and the president of Neurology Awareness and Research Foundation (NARF) Dr Muhammad Wasey at a news conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Monday that was held in connection with the World Epilepsy Day.
Dr Wasey said that 60 to 70 percent of the 2 million epileptics in Pakistan have to spend life as mentally or physically handicapped persons due "Government is violating the basic human rights of thousands of epilepsy patients by depriving them of required medicines and treatment," he said, adding that they were creating awareness informing people that epilepsy is a curable disease and its treatment is not very expensive. He said the he was not part of the government and nor has enough resources to treat all the patients in Pakistan. Dr Wasey urged the government to appoint trained and qualified neurologists at public hospitals and ensure availability of drugs for the treatment of epilepsy.
According to him, it would cost only the money that is spent on construction of a major road in Karachi but that disbursement in the demanded sector will help treat all the epileptics in Sindh. He said this would change the destiny of thousands of epilepsy patients, who would return to normal life with ability to earn their livelihood on their own instead of dependency on others.
Speaking at the KPC, head of Neurosciences Department of Baqai Medical University Dr Arif Herekar deplored that drugs for treatment of epilepsy vanished from the market that caused irreparable loss to the under-treatment patients. He called for imparting needed training to general physicians to treat epilepsy patients. He said all physicians should understand the signs and symptoms of epilepsy and they should refer the patients to qualified neurologists for treatment.
"Childhood epilepsy is an important type of epilepsy, which affects children and if not treated timely, they become permanently handicapped, he said urging people to know the signs and symptoms of the disease so that they could take the patients to a health facility.
General Secretary of NARF, Dr Abdul Malik criticised the provincial governments for their indifferent attitude towards health of society. He said drugs for epilepsy treatment were not only expensive for rank and file of our society and also vanish from the market by the profiteers who sell these medicines in black and this malpractice too impedes the treatment of epileptics.
"If one drug is being sold at rupee 1 in one province and at rupees 4 in another province, it indicates something fishy behind that," Dr Malik said. He also demanded the government to ensure appointment of trained neurologists at tertiary-care hospitals and District Hospitals as well as free of cost medicines to the patients suffering from epilepsy in Pakistan.