CareEpilepsy Ethiopia launch
CareEpilepsy Ethiopia launched on 12 October 2015 in the Jupiter Hotel and received good press coverage.
This is a short, English-language synopsis of some of the Amharic coverage.
Shegitu magazine, (meaning ‘Pretty’), used the launch as it’s cover story, asking the question “Are we ready to learn?”
The lead article is based on an interview with our founder, Enat Yewnetu, and dealt with four areas:
- Our background, vision and mission. Enat explained that epilepsy is a medical condition, not a manifestation of an evil spirit.
- The impact of stigma for epilepsy sufferers means the general public find it hard to look at epilepsy in a balanced way.
- The challenges are real and should not be minimized. In spite of that a good life is possible.
- How can society contribute to our work? Everyone should ask themselves how they can make a difference to the story of epilepsy care in Ethiopia.
The caption to the photo on second page states: You have choices in life – one is to let
depression take over and allow your life to lose purpose – another is to be strong and to have a positive attitude, despite having to live with epilepsy. I chose the latter.
Addis Admas (meaning ‘New Horizon’) Sat 17 Oct 2015
Title: Epilepsy, known in Ethiopia as the “Falling Down Sickness”.
The article explains that there are about one million* epileptics in Ethiopia, of whom 85% get no medical treatment. This is the reason for CareEpilepsy, which launched on 12 October 2015 at the Jupiter Hotel, explaining to the country how CareEpilepsy was born and what is its vision and mission. It then reported on the launch of CareEpilepsy, which consisted of presentations, among others, by:
- Dr Hermon Amare, Mental Health leader of the Federal Ministry of Health
- Dr Mehila Zebenigus, consultant neurologist, who explained what epilepsy is
- Enat Yewnetu, who spoke of the origins of CareEpilepsy and its work, and what we want to achieve in Ethiopia
Enat was interviewed after the launch and was asked why she gave up a good career to do this. “Because my good treatment in England gives me an almost normal life and I want the same for Ethiopian epileptics.”
Our aim is to establish and enhance good quality treatment in Ethiopia and raise awareness, minimize stigma and enable epileptics to be productive members of society, supporting themselves and their families.
*Estimates of the number vary between 1 and almost 5 million, depending on the sources used.
