Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder, which calls for a life-course approach. It is ideally managed by epilepsy specialists but specialists are few and far apart, particularly in resource-limited countries of the world. For example, ten African countries were without a neurologist and four had only one neurologist in 2020. Likewise, the number of neurologists in South & Southeast Asia is 30 times lesser in comparison to Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) proposes that epilepsy is diagnosed and treated by primary care providers in the absence of specialists in resource-poor countries. However, there is limited evidence, if at all, to support the engagement of primary care providers in the management of epilepsy.
The STOP Epilepsy, which is an acronym for, “Scaling-up The COmpetency of Primary Care Workers to Manage Epilepsy by Task-Sharing (STOP-Epilepsy)” is a project that endeavors to research the feasibility, acceptability and the impact of primary care on epilepsy outcomes.
As a Research Group, we are highly committed to demonstrating the impact of primary care on epilepsy management. Our Research Group is truly multidisciplinary and includes epilepsy specialists, health system experts, a health economist, qualitative researchers, and statisticians.
Our research will inform our peers, policy-makers, the scientific community and health care providers on the suitability of task-sharing with primary care providers in the management of epilepsy. The findings of our research assume significance because all 192 member states of the 75th World Health Assembly in 2025 approved the adoption of the Intersectoral Global Action Plan (IGAP) for Epilepsy and other Neurological Disorders. The aim of IGAP is to improve access to effective diagnosis, treatment and care among all people with epilepsy. We sincerely hope that the findings from the STOP Epilepsy program with inform the IGAP on future strategies in order to achieve its aims.
Dr. Gagandeep Singh MD, DM, FAMS, FRCP (London) is a Professor in Neurology at the Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, India. He is also the Honorary Professor, Department of Clinical & Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, UK. He is the Principal Investigator in the STOP Epilepsy project.
STOP Epilepsy 