KARACHI, Dec 1: The school health services department will begin an epilepsy awareness and training programme soon after Eid.

The deputy director of the Sindh government’s school health services department, Dr Asif Zaman, told Dawn on Sunday that the 260 doctors of his department would take part in the course which would be titled “Epilepsy and other forms of unconsciousness among children.”

He stressed the need for disseminating information about epilepsy, saying that “one in 100 Pakistanis suffers from epilepsy”.

He explained that the awareness and training programme was being conducted in collaboration with the neurology department of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, the Global Campaign against Epilepsy, the International Bureau of Epilepsy and the World Health Organization.

Dr Zaman added that the aim of the programme was to provide quality treatment to patients with epilepsy at their doorsteps. “The epilepsy training programme would go a long way towards disseminating information about the disease in the public. Besides, it would provide doctors with an opportunity to update their knowledge and skills which would come in handy while treating patients, especially children, stricken with this largely misunderstood disease.”

Doctors told Dawn that epilepsy is also known as the “falling sickness” in which there is an abnormality of brain function which shows itself as periodic paroxysmal activity resulting in a momentary loss of attention or consciousness in the minor form of the disease or prolonged loss of consciousness associated with generalized convulsions in major epilepsy.

“The only things that can be done for anyone having an epileptic fit are: remove anything nearby that could cause injury, turn the subject face down with the head to one side, and slap the back so that the tongue comes forward. There is no need to call an ambulance unless there is an injury, nor anything to try to force anything between the teeth,” they explained.

Dr Zaman made clear that funding for the epilepsy awareness and training programme was not being provided by any organization. “The organizations working in collaboration with us are providing only technical advisory to our doctors who, in turn, will inform teachers about the disease so that they could help students suffering from epilepsy.”

He added that the following systems should alert teachers: unconsciousness, jerks in the whole or parts of the body, disconnection from surroundings, involuntary movements and behavioural changes.

MEETING: Official sources told Dawn on Sunday that a meeting was scheduled to be held on Monday which would discuss rescheduling of the Sindh government’s school health services department and the provision of medical services to students of government schools.