Challenges of Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda

Abstract

Epilepsy is a common condition in Low Income Countries like Uganda. These countries are overburdened by infectious diseases like Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Uganda is going through an epidemiologic transition from communicable diseases to non-communicable diseases including epilepsy. The country has not put in place strategies to address the new realities of the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension and epilepsy. There are tremendous challenges in terms of infrastructure, human resources for health, diagnostics and medical supplies for effective treatment of these conditions. Many communicable and non-communicable diseases may present with symptomatic seizures which are often mistaken for epilepsy the disease. This article discusses the challenges health workers meet in diagnosing, investigating and treating epilepsy in a limited resource setting at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda.