National and Latin American Epilepsy Awareness Day

In celebration of the National and Latin American Epilepsy Awareness Day, Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública held a special program for patients from the institution's health services, on September 9, at the Academic Unit Brotas. Students from the epilepsy outpatient clinic of the Medicine, Psychology and Nursing courses participated.

The main objective of the initiative was to raise awareness of both the population and patients of the health services of the Bahiana about myths and truths related to epilepsy. 

Throughout the program, recreational activities were carried out with the patients, such as game tables with questions and answers about the disease, quizzes on myths and truths about epilepsy, in addition to the distribution of explanatory folders.

According to the professor of the Psychology course at Bahiana and Josiane Lopes, caregiver of boarding students, the activity instructed the population on the importance of deconstructing some stigmas. "We realized the importance of talking about this disease that is increasingly affecting the population, strengthening understanding, breaking prejudices and raising awareness." The teacher emphasizes that this way it is possible to support and help patients to have an improvement in their quality of life.

Dr. Humberto Castro Lima Filho, coordinator of the epilepsy clinic, warns that the National and Latin American Epilepsy Awareness Day is a fundamental date in the fight against prejudice related to the disease, as it is clear that one of the main issues faced by its patients and family members occurs due to lack of information. 

“We know that epilepsy is a public health problem that encompasses 1% of the world population and, in Brazil, if we consider that we have 200 million inhabitants, there are two million epileptics, 30 in Salvador alone. An aggravating factor is that, in addition to the prejudice and stigma suffered, there is a lack of access to health services”.

Ana Maria Cruz Santos, a nurse from the Cuidar Faz Bem Program and a member of the Epilepsy Outpatient Clinic, explains that the performance of the Nursing course students focused on patients of childbearing age.

"We realized that there is a drug interaction between the antiepileptic and the contraceptives, so we alert these women to the use of the IUD and make the gynecological referral".


Specialized Outpatient Clinics in Epilepsy in Salvador

According to Dr. Humberto Castro Lima Filho, in Salvador, in addition to the service offered by Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública, there is the Outpatient Clinic of Hospital das Clínicas, both specialized in epilepsy. “In addition to these two, there is the General Neurology Outpatient Clinic, where the general neurologist is trained to treat epileptic cases and, in the basic network, the clinician is also able to provide care,” said the doctor.