Epilepsy has scandalous stats in UK

The all-party parliamentary group on epilepsy (APPG) has claimed that the current government has failed to address the needs of people with epilepsy in the UK. Epilepsy is a medical condition that causes individuals to experience reoccurring seizures.

APPG claims that over 400 deaths could have been avoided if the government had chosen to spend its £189 million wisely. The report, supported by the Joint Epilepsy Council (JEC), stated that over 69,000 people are living with unnecessary seizures, while 74,000 people are taking drugs they don’t need. Baroness Gould of Potternewton, chair of the APPG, said: "The regularity of avoidable deaths at nearly 400 each year is shocking.

In addition, the numbers of people who experience seizures unnecessarily and the numbers taking anti-epilepsy drugs for which they have no need demands recognition as a national scandal." The APPG has gathered written and oral evidence suggesting that people with epilepsy and their families have been continually left behind by society and has demanded change in the delivery of services to people with this condition.