Two million suffer from epilepsy

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)