Epilepsy: A Public Health Priority

The Side Events held annually alongside the WHA are tremendously important because the provide a unique opportunity to highlight specific healthcare domains before WHO Leadership and top level healthcare authorities from all over the world. The number of slots for these Side Events is limited and they are highly sought after. The ILAE has deployed great efforts to help make this happen.

This Side event will bring together policy makers, NGOs, patients, health care leaders and Member States to develop next steps for implementing Resolution WHA68.20.  Ministries of Health from different WHO regions will identify the underlying systemic issues that affect access to universal health care (UHC) and essential medicines for persons with epilepsy in their regions. The newly crafted Global Epilepsy report will be presented, and key directions for an Epilepsy Action Plan will be identified. The speakers will address the barriers to epilepsy care, make recommendations to strengthen systems and practices, and issue a call for urgent action by all key stakeholders nationally and internationally.

Expected Results of the Side Event include:

• A scaling up of Member States’ political commitment towards addressing the gaps in access to essential health-care services and essential medicines for epilepsy.
• Identification of factors affecting access to essential medicines, where regulations represent a  barrier to their availability, as occurs in many resource-limited countries.
• Development of partnerships and initiatives to address the major modifiable risk factors for epilepsy, including perinatal injuries, central nervous system infections, traumatic brain injury and stroke.
• Presentation of the summary of the Global Epilepsy Report and identification of key directions for the Global Action Plan on epilepsy

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