Epidemiology and treatment of Epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Across five sites in sub-Saharan Africa, researchers will knock on doors to find people with active convulsive epilepsy who are not receiving treatment. Epilepsy affects millions in sub-Saharan Africa, but no one knows exactly how many people have it, how many go untreated, or why so many die prematurely. Parasitic infections such as neurocysticercosis and onchocerciasis are suspected causes, but the evidence is patchy. This study will measure the true prevalence of active convulsive epilepsy, calculate the treatment gap, and identify preventable triggers. If the research succeeds, it will produce the first reliable, population-based figures for epilepsy burden across diverse African settings. In one site, a community-based intervention will be tested to see whether training local health workers and providing free antiseizure drugs can close the treatment gap. If it works, the same model could be scaled to other regions, potentially saving thousands of lives each year. The findings will also guide public health campaigns against parasitic diseases that cause epilepsy, shifting prevention from guesswork to evidence.