With a network of 22 clinics now established through our partnership work, a necessarily ambitious programme of awareness-raising needs to be delivered in order to reach the large number of people with epilepsy in Sierra Leone who currently receive no treatment.  Alongside this, capacity needs to be maintained and strengthened within the health sector so that skills are kept up to date and new staff coming through have a basic understanding of epilepsy diagnosis and management to make appropriate referrals. We have recently secured some support for a public awareness-raising campaign and community awareness activities, led by Epilepsy Support Workers in Bo, Kabala and Freetown. The Support Workers are reaching out to schools, places of workshops and community leaders to promote accurate understandings of epilepsy. Later this year we will be producing radio adverts and a short video for showing on TV to highlight the key campaign messages.

Dr Jalloh, a member of the epilepsy clinical team, at the offices of the Epilepsy Association Sierra Leone, Rokupa, Freetown.