Two million suffer from epilepsy

JAKARTA (JP): A doctor said on Tuesday that between 1.5 million to two million people in Indonesia suffered from epilepsy.

Dede Gunawan, head of the neurology department of the Hasan Sadikin Hospital in the West Java capital of Bandung, was quoted by Antara as saying that the situation had been made worse as only a handful of neurologists specialized in epilepsy in the country.

He said that of some 400 neurologists in Indonesia, only about 10 specialize in the ailment.

"But this has also become a problem as most of the doctors are concentrated in big cities," Dede was quoted as saying.

Dede also said that most patients could not afford to have proper treatment as medication for the disease was still too expensive.

"Patients can't have routine treatment because they can't afford it," Dede said, adding that most patients did not have medical insurance.

He added that standard treatment for epilepsy was also not easily available in most cities in the country. (byg)