More than 750,000 Ugandans living with Epilepsy- Survey

By Our Reporter

5^th April 2023

A survey whose results were released on Wednesday has found more than 750,000 Ugandans to be living with epilepsy, a disorder of the brain that is characterized by repeated seizures.

In this survey, the first of its kind to determine the national prevalence of the disease, researchers reached out to 36,439 heads of households from enumeration areas used by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics for the national census.

The respondents were asked ten questions related to the symptoms of the disease before a clinical assessment was conducted on selected groups.

According to Prof Angelina Kakooza, a Makerere University-based child neurologist who was part of the survey team, 1.69 per cent of   Ugandans are living with the disease. The majority are from the Eastern part of the country.

Without a survey, Ministry of Health estimates have been putting the prevalence of the disease at 1 per cent with several of their reports quoting 11 cases per a thousand people.

The new findings show a steep increase and researchers say this means that there should be an increased investment to ensure that people living with the disease access treatment.

Dr Anthony Fuller, the Principal Investigator and Professor of Neurosurgery at Duke University in the United States says that for many of the sufferers, medication is for a lifetime but none of the health facilities at a level of Health Center III had the drugs across the country.