Chapter Spotlight: India

Visit the IES website

The Indian Epilepsy Society (IES) was formed in 1997. The main objectives of the IES are to:

• Maintain the highest standard in the ethics and practice for the promoting of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of all persons with epilepsy.
• Promote and encourage research concerning epilepsy.
• Improve education, and dissemination of knowledge concerning epilepsy.
• Maintain a good liaison with the organization of lay people - Indian Epilepsy Association (IEA).

The IES offers EEG Workshops with an aim to train young doctors, nurses and technicians interested in care of persons with epilepsy. The first workshops were held in 2008 and 2009 at the AIIMS, New Delhi, and more such workshops are planned for other centres in India and neighbouring countries. An epilepsy school is also held annually with rich participation from India and neighboring countries.

The Guidelines for Epilepsy Management in India (GEMIND) were released in October, 2008 during the Annual Conference of the IES and IEA. The GEMIND are a milestone in the true sense and perhaps the first example of a national professional body formulating guidelines for a common disorder in India. The GEMIND are expected to help improve medical decision making for the millions of people with epilepsy in India, mainly at a general physician level and it is being updated in 2018.

The society also brought out Indian Consensus Documents on Sodium Valproate and phenobarbitone. IES will continue to make efforts to organize educational activities for the benefit of the healthcare professionals and people with epilepsy.

The chapter is young and growing, with members who actively contribute their share towards achieving the common goal to "bring epilepsy out of the shadows." Our motto Epilepsy can be controlled in most. Lets do it together.

June 2018