Prevalence of Epilepsy in Kanywabogo Parish Kicuzi Sub-County, Ibanda District

Jimmy Ogwal, Ministry of Health
Robert Majwala, Ministry of Health
Alex Ario, Uganda National Institute of Public Health

Risk of premature death is two to three times higher in people with epilepsy than in the general population. Epilepsy is common and under-treated in Ibanda and the treatment gap is exacerbated by the sparsity of trained health personnel, the cost and difficulty of access to technical investigation and poorly sustained drug for treatment. The inevitable burden on families and communities includes an average of 24 hours per year spent dealing with ‘moderate’ seizures. District Health Information System reported 2183 cases from Ibanda of which, 663 were from Kicuzi Sub County where Kanywabogo parish is located in 2015 and from community active findings, 101cases were identified and 31(31%) of households had more than one case of epilepsy. Most affected age group is 21-25 years 31(32%) and average age at epilepsy onset is 11 years. The increasing epilepsy cases in Kanywabogo parish could be link to blackflies along the river