The National Epilepsy Week is a yearly unique event organized by CareEpilepsy Ethiopia to acknowledge and highlight the psychosocial, economic and healthcare challenges faced by people with epilepsy, their families and carers. This program will also give the opportunity to sponsors, partners and stakeholders to make a difference for people with epilepsy.
Objectives of the 2023 National Epilepsy Week Event
What makes this year more special is the program will:
- be a hybrid that combines a "live" in-person event with a "virtual" online component.
- pilot a telemedicine service to increasing access to epilepsy specialist doctors
- increase nurses, midwives and health officers capacity to treat epilepsy by providing a two day clinical training and support.
- raise awareness on human rights violations which are widespread among people with epilepsy, including being denied treatment, education, and employment.
Target Group
This event's target group are people with epilepsy, their families, clinical staff (nurses, health officer, midwives), youth leaders, policymakers, religious leaders and the community in general of all ages.
Duration
One week, 13th - 18th February 2023.
The Program
The 8th National Epilepsy Week in 2023 will comprise a series of activities, including:
| Date | Day | Activity/Programme | Target Audience | Venue
|
| 10th February | Friday | PRESS CONFERENCE | The community in general | Ethiopian Public Health Institute |
| 13th February | Monday | WORKSHOP - Community Conversation Multi-disciplinary conference- IBE as guest speaker (Zoom & Video)
- Media
| Policymakers and Media Personnel | Ethiopian Public Health Institute |
| 14th February | Tuesday | CLINICAL TRAINING on ‘Basics of Epilepsy’ Day 1 | Health officers, midwives, and nurses. | Ethiopian Public Health Institute |
| 15th February | Wednesday | CLINICAL TRAINING on ‘Basics of Epilepsy’ Day 2 | Health officers, midwives, and nurses. | Ethiopian Public Health Institute |
| 16th February | Thursday | - COMMUNITY EDUCATION - Teaching in schools
- TELEMEDICINE CLINIC PM
| Students and Teachers
Patients and their families | *1 |
17th February
| Friday | - EDUCATION AT HEALTH CENTER
- Clinic PM
| The community in general | *2 |
| 18th February | Saturday | - COMMUNITY EDUCATION
- Street campaign
| The community in general | *3 |
*1 – We will be teaching in 5 public schools within the four sub-cities , *2 – We will be teaching in 5 health centers within the ten sub-cities, *3 – We will be doing public education on one selected street.
All the above activities are geared towards sensitizing the community, reducing stigma and working with stakeholders to ensure epilepsy patients can access adequate epilepsy care and treatment as well as education and employment.
We use multiple media outlets, such as:
- Press conference.
- Interviews on Radio and TV shows (aim to gain international interviews).
- Design and publication of print media.
- Earned (articles placed in news outlets).
- Social (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, blogs, etc.).
Trying to overcome deep-rooted traditions, prejudices and misconceptions is always an uphill battle. Nevertheless, CareEpilepsy Ethiopia believes that the key to overcoming deep-rooted cultural practices, norms and religious interpretations of numerous aspects of Epilepsy lies in raising awareness and having access to AEDs. It is high time to FOCUS on epilepsy and care for this community of people! Without FOCUS and a strong voice, epilepsy is neglected compared to other diseases notwithstanding so many patients in Ethiopia are severely impacted by the disease. We believe in a stigma free future for epilepsy. We are the only organization that works across every area of epilepsy: clinical care, prevention, advocacy, information and support.