Epigraph Vol. 12 Issue 3, Summer 2010
President's Message
It is nearly a year since I became your President. Through the coordinated efforts of the Executive Committee (EC) and the Commissions as well the support of all the Chapters we have accomplished many wonderful things, and once again it is important to thank you all for your hard and relentless work to improve the care of people afflicted by epilepsy.
During the last several months the League’s main effort has been the development of a new message. This message will allow us to increase our reach to all people with epilepsy in terms of access to care, education of professionals and people with epilepsy. It will also help with our efforts to augment training in both resource intensive and in resource poor underdeveloped countries. Ed Bertram, our Information Officer, the Global Campaign Task Force and several members of the EC have been working on this message. Many discussions have addressed the fact that epilepsy can be a potentially devastating disorder that can kill. We also want to include that while we have a few treatment options available, in the future we should strive to find a cure or even prevent the development of epilepsy. Although this message will attract attention, I should point out that it is contradictory to the previous slogan “Living well with epilepsy,” That slogan was chosen to help some people with epilepsy better cope with the condition, and to avoid the discrimination and stigma that usually accompanies the diagnosis of epilepsy. However, it did not bring the attention of the general public, governments and funding agencies to the plight of people with epilepsy, many of whom suffer from ongoing seizures and associated comorbidities including SUDEP. Therefore, the development of the new message is of paramount importance. Suggestions from all of you are welcome, especially on how to transition from the previous slogan.
We are also working to develop the far-reaching goal of improving the care of people with epilepsy worldwide, taking into account local obstacles. We are carefully assessing opportunities to further advance our mission. Through our collaboration with the WHO, Autism Speaks, Project Hope and other organizations we have identified regions where we may provide a comprehensive assessment of needs and deliver services at all levels, from the individual to the community to the general society in terms of access to care and education of all people involved. For this purpose, we are actively pursuing projects to raise funds. In this issue of Epigraph you will note our progress thus far in our collaboration with IBRO as described by Giuliano Avanzini. However, to achieve our goals we need to have many more people participate in our activities, and with this letter I would like to invite all of you to volunteer your time in our League’s activities and specify the area in which you are particularly interested. The current ILAE’s leadership is very keen about developing the future leaders of our organization.
I am confident that given your dedication, innovation and enthusiasm we will succeed in reaching our goals. Once again, I would like to thank you for the long hours you have devoted to our League’s mission, and I am looking forward to meeting with you at our Regional Congresses in the next few months.
Solomon (Nico) L Moshé
President
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