Kiambu county assembly has passed a motion urging the county government to establish a county epilepsy coordination committee to help persons living with epilepsy who have been neglected.
According to the motion tabled by nominated MCA Mercy Nungari wants the committee which will include representatives from the county health services, ministry of health stakeholders of epilepsy care and research institutions to establish mechanisms for incorporating management of epilepsy into primary health care provisions in county health facilities.
"This will include ensuring epileptic drugs are availed to needy patients at subsidized prices at the county hospitals," said Nungari.
The committee Nungari told the assembly that it will provide a forum to gather data from research institutions and create strategies to support groups and community epilepsy clinics in the county
It will also coordinate public health education and awareness in order to inprovethe knowledge of the disease to reduce stigma and discrimination in wards.
Nungari acknowledged that poor diagnosis rate coupled with lack of accessible and affordable health care as a major gap in management of epilepsy in kenya.
"lack of awareness about the disease where it is associated with supernatural forces, powers which increases stigma and discrimination, high cost of diagnosis and treatment due to few epilepsy specialists, like neurosurgeons and imaging facilities, in rural and semi urban areas , negative effects of the available epilepsy drugs to some people which discourage medical treament," said Nungari.
She said that the motion was necessitated through her concerns that epileptic persons from needy backgrounds including their families suffer mentally and financially since they cannot afford the high cost of diagnosis and treatment and as a result they are unable to control seizures and improve quality of their lives through affordable medical treatment.
Daniel Kabeeri MCA Gitothua while seconding the motion in support said that epilepsy is one of the diseases that has not been recognized or given much attention.
"the life span of an epileptic person is between 2 to 10 years which begs for proper health care for them. Epilepsy is a disease where you will not know someone is suffering unless he or she collapses," said Kabeeri.
Nduta Muongi a nominated MCA a journalist said that the motion is of benefit to those who suffer from epilepsy recalling how a colleague in the media who had the disease passed on after falling down and got electrocuted in his own house.
The MCAs in the health committee in their contribution said that money will be set aside in the health department to ensure that the implementation is done.
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