IEC 2025 | The burden of epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries: climate change and refugee settings
Medine Gulcebi Idriz Oglu, MD, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey, the burden of epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries, particularly related to climate change and refugee settings. Prof. Gulcebi highlights that people with epilepsy living in these countries are more vulnerable to climate change and potential displacement, leading to disrupted access to medication. This interview took place at the 36th International Epilepsy Congress (IEC) in Lisbon, Portugal.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
Transcript
Firstly, I would like to underline that there are some countries which are already more vulnerable to climate change effects than the other countries. And they have some vulnerability scores. Each country has its own vulnerability score. And this score is based on more than 70 different aspects. And when we look at these vulnerability scores of the countries, we see that particularly low- to middle-income countries have higher vulnerability scores to climate change effects than the high-income countries...
Firstly, I would like to underline that there are some countries which are already more vulnerable to climate change effects than the other countries. And they have some vulnerability scores. Each country has its own vulnerability score. And this score is based on more than 70 different aspects. And when we look at these vulnerability scores of the countries, we see that particularly low- to middle-income countries have higher vulnerability scores to climate change effects than the high-income countries. And for the people with epilepsy, when we look at the burden of epilepsy, we know that the burden of epilepsy is at least twice as high in the low- to middle-income countries compared to high-income countries. So this means that, firstly, the risk of climate change adverse events for people with epilepsy living in low- to middle-income countries is higher than for the people with epilepsy living in high-income countries. And also, we know that the burden of epilepsy is very important in the refugee camps. So these people living in these camps are already considered more vulnerable to climate change effects than other people. Because we know that, firstly, I mean, displacement of people from their countries or from their own region, let’s say, is a major risk factor for experiencing climate change effects. For example, not regarding the refugee camps, but I can give an example for the wildfires that we just experienced in Europe and mainly in Turkey, let’s say, just for about a very short period in July and August, let’s say, around, I think, 98,000 people left their homes in Europe. And this means that their medication, their management of their epilepsy will be disrupted just because of this. Because we know that the quality of life of the people with epilepsy depends mainly on their seizure control. And in order to provide good seizure control, they need to use anti-seizure medications. And this means that they need to be able to reach their medications very easily. And if we think about the people displaced from their regions, like the people in the refugee camps, firstly, it will be very difficult, complicated for them to reach their medications. And adherence to medications is very important. This is another thing. I mean, even if you can reach your medication, you need to use it regularly in order to provide good seizure control. And let’s think about all these countries, all these refugee camps, all the people who left their homes, their areas. Adherence to drug medications, of course, will be disrupted during adverse weather events, such as heatwaves, cold spats, floods, wildfires, or hurricanes.
This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.
Read more...
