Chapter Spotlight: Ukraine

The XXIII Conference of the Ukrainian League Against Epilepsy (ULAE), “Actual issues in terms of pathomorphosis of epilepsy” took place in Odessa on May 16-18, 2019 with international participation. The conference covered related topics of adult and pediatric neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery. More than 300 participants were registered. Regulatory documents of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) on definition, classification, diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in Ukrainian were distributed to participants.

A recording of the ILAE Europe (CEA) Chairs Symposium of the 13th European Congress on Epilepsy (ECE), Vienna, Austria, August, 26-30, 2018 with translation into Ukrainian was presented on the first day. The Vienna-ECE Chair Symposium includes lectures of key Opinion leaders (KOLs) from the USA, Ireland and Switzerland on status epilepticus as well as the treatment of epileptic status and genetic epilepsy.

Leading epileptologists, psychiatrists, pharmacologists and neurosurgeons from Ukraine, Israel, Greece, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation spoke at the 2019-ULAE annual conference.

Within the framework of the conference, it was announced the establishment of the Ukrainian Bureau for Epilepsy (UBE), a candidate for membership in the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE).

The International Bureau for Epilepsy has developed promising strategies to protect the rights of patients with epilepsy, a program that will provide funding and support for initiatives that directly improve the quality of life of such people. The IBE perspective strategies program, established in 2006, is one of the most successful and innovative in implementing all IBE initiatives. The program currently supports 81 projects in 37 countries.

The purpose of creating the UBE was to organize the exchange of information with other courntries on the provision of assistance to patients with epilepsy, supporting existing initiatives in this field, applying them in Ukraine, promoting stability and accessibility of people with epilepsy, promote the rights and dignity of people with epilepsy, supporting and encouraging the study of epilepsy, promoting greater participation of people with epilepsy and their families in the global problems of epilepsy.

The first task of UBE will be to study the needs of Ukrainian patients with epilepsy, depending on the doctors.
Video from the conference can be found on the official website ULAE: ulae.org.ua.