Health Minister launches ‘Stop Epilepsy Project’ at Nawanshahr

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh inaugurated the “Stop-Epilepsy Project” at District Hospital, Nawanshahr, today. The main objective of this project is to improve the capacity of medical staff in primary care to manage the treatment of epilepsy. The project will focus on providing better diagnostic services and standardising the ongoing care to the people suffering from epilepsy.

Dr Balbir Singh highlighted the importance of providing epilepsy treatment on a priority basis for public health protection. He emphasised the need for primary healthcare workers to play an important role in the treatment and management of epilepsy in its early stages.

Dr Balbir said the project had been started in three districts of the country, including Nawanshahr in Punjab, Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh and Godavari Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

He said epilepsy was not a disease in itself, but a disorder of the nervous system related to the brain, in which seizures occur. Epilepsy can occur at any age. This disease affects about one crore people of the country, including 3 lakh people of Punjab. Although treatment is possible with simple, inexpensive drugs, there is a large treatment gap. As much as 70 per cent of the people suffering from this disease are deprived of treatment.

The ‘Stop Epilepsy’ team requested the Health Minister to include more epilepsy drugs in the list of essential drugs in Punjab.