Pan American Health Organization WHO Resources Neurological disorders including dementia WHO Regional Strategies and Action Plans 26 September 2011 Policy document

This translation feature uses a third-party service. Please be advised that the machine-translated content may not be accurate. Translation only applies to this page and is not available for downloaded files or external links.

Print

Description

Epilepsy is one of the world’s most common chronic neurological disorders. Roughly 50 million people suffer from it, 5 million of them in the Region of the Americas (1-5). Nevertheless, it is estimated that over 50% of these people in Latin America and the Caribbean have no access to services (2, 6-9). Furthermore, the stigma attached to people with epilepsy is a barrier to the exercise of their human rights and social integration (1-2, 10-11).

It is important to note that scientific advances have improved the understanding and management of epilepsy. This fact, combined with political will, makes this the right time for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and its Member States to make this important public health problem a priority.

This document includes the input received from a consultative process in which the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE), the ministries of health, and other national organizations, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the World Health Organization (WHO), PAHO technical programs, and as a group of experts participated.

Content