Tamale, Aug 6, GNA - The President of the International League Against Epilepsy, Mr. Solomon Moshe, said on Thursday that epilepsy was a major global health epidemic that must be eradicated. He said the disease was affecting millions of people globally and stressed the need for intervention to arrest its spread. Mr. Moshe raised these concerns in Tamale at a two-day workshop for over 115 health professionals across the country. The workshop, organized by Basic Needs Ghana, was aimed at equipping them with professional competence to diagnose and treat patients with the disease.

Mr. Bukari Moses Mabengba, the Deputy Northern Regional Minister, lauded the efforts of Basic Needs Ghana in caring for 17,462 people with mental illness. He said the organization is also caring for 9,572 epileptic cases in the country.

The Deputy Minister called on the health professionals to find new ways of containing the disease. Mr. Peter Yaro, the Country Programme Manager for Basic Needs Ghana, said the organisation had been fighting the disease in the country since 2002.

He said Basic Needs in collaboration with partners is spending 90,000 dollars in the fight against the disease.