By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Epilepsy Association Sierra Leone has visited Epilepsy patients in Kenema District. The association said the visit is part of ways to revive hopes among people living with the disease. The visit is part of commemorations of the World Epilepsy Day, which was on the 2nd of February.
Addressing the patients, the Program Officer of the association, Mohamed Alie Turay, said: “We are here to talk to our membership living with the sickness and to give them hope that getting epilepsy is not the end of life but to accept the conditions at hand.”
Epilepsy is a disease that affects the brain. Those suffering from it often gets seizures with saliva oozing down their mouth. In rural areas, the disease is linked to superstition. Patients who have Epilepsy generally suffer from stigma in society.
The Executive Director of Epilepsy Sierra Leone, Max Bangura, said: “Epilepsy has long history and misunderstanding and traditional belief such as watch craft, family curse and evil spirit, which have made many people to face intimidation and discrimination."
Bangura added: “Epilepsy has nothing connected with evil and watch craft, but it’s too much pressure on the brain that some times lead to shock and abnormality, though some epilepsy can be natural cause”.
According to the Association, the engagement was to enable it to raise awareness on epilepsy so that stakeholders would feel what epilepsy patients are going through in life.
Hawanatu Foday is the nurse in charge of the Mental Health Unit at the Government Hospital in Kenema. She explained that stigma had been a key challenge for patients living with the condition in the district.
She said: “Epilepsy patients need to take their drugs continuously so that it can suppress the condition of their illness and the disease situation of epilepsy needs to be accepted by the patients since it’s the condition God has decided for them.”
Nurse Foday added: “Self-stigmatization by epilepsy patients is one big challenge for those living with the condition because when one has been diagnosed with it they will now isolate themself or from other people and that makes the community to discriminate against people living with the sickness.’’
Epilepsy is classed as a mental health condition in Sierra Leone. They get treatment in clinics to control the occurrence of their seizures.
Nurse Foday said treating the patients haven’t been easy.
“The management of epilepsy cases is very difficult as the reaction of the patients may not be the same. While some can be aggressive in behavior, others may be calm. But as caretakers and healthcare givers, we need to be courageous in handling them,” she said.
One of the Epilepsy patients, Malakissa Magaret Moigua, said: “I have been suffering from epilepsy for the past five years and it used to attack me during school. But since I have started taking my drugs, my condition is somehow better now and it has taken a long time I have not had an attack."
Francis Suma, a member of the District Health Management Team, said parents have not helped the situation of Epilepsy patients either.
“Families that neglect their epilepsy patients do put the lives of the affected people at risk. Because of lack of proper care and support it leads to high risk,” Suma said.
