Iran
In Iran the prevalence of epilepsy is 5%, and it has been estimated that 3% of patients are under 20 years of age. The general objective of the project is to improve the quality of care and assistance for Iranian children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy.
The Hospital involved is the Children’s Medical Center, the largest epilepsy treatment center in Iran with more than 600 cases treated every year.
The Training Program
The general objective of the project is to improve the quality of care and assistance for Iranian children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy.
The specific objective is capacity building and transfer of knowledge and skills of the epilepsy surgery healthcare personnel.
Children’s Medical Center is the largest epilepsy treatment Center in Iran with more than 600 cases treated every year. With its 300 beds, the Children’s Medical Center is a referral hospital for the Zanjireh Omid International Charity Foundation which supports treatment and assistance for disadvantaged Iranian children and is affiliated with the Tehran University of Medical Science.
The training program will include the residential training of 3 Iranian doctors:
• 1 Neurologist doctor
• 1 Neuroradiologist doctor
• 1 Neurosurgeon doctor
And distance learning and consultation on complex clinical cases presented by doctors at the Children’s Medical Center.
Background
With 50 million people affected, epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases in the world. According to the WHO report, however, in low- and middle-income countries the ratio between healthy and sick population is 139 per 100,000 people, against 48.9 in high-income countries.
Nearly 80% of people with epilepsy live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where treatment gaps exceed 75% in most low-income countries and 50% in most middle-income countries .
In Iran, a meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of epilepsy is 5%, and it has been estimated that 3% of patients are under 20 years of age. Despite the old and new generations of antiepileptic medicines, about 20-40% of people with epilepsy have seizures that are not medically treatable.
A quarter of these patients are potential candidates for specific surgical therapy.
In developing countries, social and economic deprivation introduces an additional factor to the preference for surgery in selected people: a summary of the health economic analyzes of epilepsy surgery interventions found that, in general, the costs per year of quality-adjusted life are considered “very” affordable “and therefore come recommended by WHO.
The Project
Project partners
Zanjireh Omid International Charity Foundation
Expiration
2024
Pediatric specialties
Epilepsy surgery
Activities 2023
Residential training of 3 Iranian doctors:
• 1 Neurologist doctor
• 1 Neuroradiologist doctor
• 1 Neurosurgeon doctor
Distance learning and consultancy on complex clinical cases presented by doctors from the Children’s Medical Center, the largest center for the treatment of epilepsy in Iran with more than 600 cases treated every year.
