The Sunday Mail
Statistics gathered by the Epilepsy Support Foundation of Zimbabwe estimates that half a million people in Zimbabwe are living with epilepsy.
Approximately 353 000 are women while more than 60 percent of the total being children.
Epilepsy, also known as pfari in Shona or izafafa in Ndebele, is a condition whereby one has recurrent seizures caused by an abnormal discharge activity produced by nerve cells in the brain.
This leads to movement, sensation or thought process which is apparent to the sufferer.
Epileptic seizures differ from person to person ranging from being unnoticeable with the patient being absent minded.
The International Bureau of Epilepsy 2008 report notes that the condition is the third most common neurological disorder in the elderly people.
Menstrual cycle in women triggers the condition and medication usually administered to control the condition may cause premature menopause in women while learning disorders coupled with reduced attention span affect memory in children.
The report further notes that reproductive function in men can be impaired due to decreased testosterone levels and reduced sperm quality.
As explained by Chido Nyabinde (25): “Living with the condition is one of the worst experiences because public knowledge pertaining to the condition is largely shaped by popular cultural beliefs of the moment.
“Most people believe that having the condition is being chosen or possessed.
“Women living with the condition have been on the receiving end.
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“In most cases, they are abused verbally, emotionally and psychologically,” she said.
“Relatives push for divorce and discourage marrying women living with epilepsy.
“It is just a question of taking the condition seriously and desisting from just taking it as a common neurological disorder,” argues Taurai Kadzviti, member of the Disability Board of Zimbabwe.
“There is need to embark on effective research which involves traditional healers, faith healers and medical experts.
“The efforts will be futile if the rural clinics and medical hospitals are not fully equipped with required information and medication necessary to control the condition.
“Considering that most of the people in Zimbabwe are rural based it is clear that thousands of the sufferers are merely resorting to traditional methods which further worsen the untreated condition.
“There is urgent need to raise the profile of epilepsy within the African region and work for changes in budgeting and policy making relating to people with epilepsy while improving access to people living with epilepsy,” he said.
Rutendo Gwatinyanya, ESFZ acting director, said that the plight of the epileptic can never be well resolved if there is no proportional representation of the disabled in Government.
For instance, there is no clear-cut policy determining the representation of the disabled through various structures which has led to slow progress in dealing with the disabled.
