Epilepsy tops cases of mental illnesses in the country

Epilepsy was the most common mental illness reported at Service de consultations Psychosociales de Kigali (SCPS) also known as Ndera Hospital. The figures were made public during a press briefing by the Minister of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, on the current status of mental health in the country. Of the 18,056 cases reported at the hospital between 2010 and 2011, 9,402 (52 percent) were epilepsy followed by psychiatric disorders with 3,334 (18.5 percent) cases.According to medics, epilepsy is a common and diverse set of chronic neurological disorders characterised by seizures. During a seizure, people can shake, stare, fall down, or even briefly lose consciousness.“We are focusing on prevention. That is why we have tried to put several measures in place to ensure safe delivery for mothers, reduce road accidents and others since they contribute to the causes of epilepsy,” said the Minister. Binagwaho added that despite the figures, only five percent of the global population suffers from epilepsy. “The reason why we have these high figures is because this disease if very visible, when an individual gets a seizure, they are rushed to the hospital unlike for some other mental cases that may not be easily detected or quickly reported to hospital,” said the Minister. According to Dr. Fidele Sebera, a neurologist, some of the main causes of epilepsy include low oxygen during birth, head injuries that occur during birth or from accidents, brain tumors, genetic conditions that result in brain injury, infections such as meningitis or encephalitis, stroke or any other type of damage to the brain and abnormal levels of substances such as sodium or blood sugar.In a related development, the Ministry of Health is partnering with the Belgian Cooperation to train psychiatrists. Currently, there are only six psychiatrists in the country. The ministry targets to have 20 by 2017. “The students will partly have their studies in Rwanda and abroad to access the infrastructure that we don’t have here. Our long term plan is to have the infrastructure and the trainers here,” said Binagwaho.In a new twist, Binagwaho refuted claims by the Director of the Psychosocial Consultation Centre, Yvonne Kayiteshonga, that the ministry is not fully responsible for coordinating activities designed to handle trauma cases during the annual Genocide commemoration period. “We are fully responsible of any case related to people’s health, including providing all the necessary facilities,” clarified Binagwaho. The National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) had accused the ministry of not taking full responsibility to handle trauma cases during the annual Genocide commemoration period. The commemoration week is slated to begin on April 7.