Epilepsy Care: Global Epilepsy
BAND champions efforts to narrow the dramatic epilepsy treatment gap in low-resource settings, especially in Africa. We invest in targeted initiatives that demonstrate how epilepsy care can be integrated into public health systems and support advocates to advance awareness and education.
Initiatives
Funders Learning Network for Global Epilepsy
The Funders Learning Network for Global Epilepsy is a two-year pilot initiative launched by the BAND Foundation to spark interest, build connections, and explore solutions for epilepsy care in Africa. Epilepsy affects more than 50 million people worldwide, with the vast majority living in low-resource settings where treatment gaps exceed 75%. Despite its scale, epilepsy remains a significantly neglected health challenge. Through this network, we convene donors and their advisors to learn together, share experiences, and identify high-impact opportunities for investment in epilepsy and related neurological conditions.
The Curse of Stigma Campaign
The BAND and Whitten-Newman Foundations have partnered to raise awareness of epilepsy in Africa by co-producing the award winning documentary film, The Curse of Stigma. The filmtells the story of Kenyans living with epilepsy and the pain, isolation, and harm they have suffered because of discrimination and deeply embedded cultural beliefs. Their ultimate understanding of epilepsy as a treatable condition leads them to better health and brighter futures. By telling their truth, and the truth about epilepsy, they overcome shame – the ultimate curse of epilepsy stigma.
The film is the centerpiece of The International Bureau for Epilepsy's (IBE) Curse of Stigma Campaign, which promotes epilepsy awareness, human rights, and advocacy while working to break down harmful stereotypes and advance healthcare equity.
For more information visit: thecurseofstigma.org
Grants in Focus: Africa
Amref
The BAND Foundation, with support from the UCB Innovation for Health Equity Fund, is partnering with Amref on a project to enhance epilepsy care in Tanzania. This pilot project focuses on reducing the stigma, impact, and burden of epilepsy, while improving the quality of life for individuals with these conditions, their caregivers, and families. The 3-year project involves collaboration with the Tanzania Epilepsy Association, Parents Organization for Children with Epilepsy in Tanzania, National Institute for Medical Research and the Ministry of Health. By leveraging existing community health structures, the initiative aims to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and provide equitable access to diagnosis, treatment, and support services within a primary healthcare framework. The project’s holistic and sustainable approach to epilepsy care will serve as a scalable model for replication across other regions.
Global Strategies
Global Strategies empowers communities in neglected areas to improve the health and lives of women and children through healthcare interventions, training, and innovation. They are integrating pediatric epilepsy management into an existing, widely used clinical decision support platform for low- and middle-income countries, enabling frontline providers to access guidance within their routine workflows. By embedding evidence-based tools for epilepsy and status epilepticus into a general pediatrics application, the initiative overcomes barriers associated with standalone, rarely used tools and supports timely recognition, diagnosis, and management of epilepsy in children. This approach strengthens task-shifting, extends specialist knowledge to generalists, and promotes more consistent, high-quality care—ultimately improving access and outcomes for children in resource-constrained settings.
Wolfson College, Oxford
The Centre for Global Epilepsy will collaborate with key research institutions and epilepsy clinics worldwide, linking expertise from high-income settings with those in less resourced environments to drive advancements in epilepsy research, diagnosis, treatment, and care. The centre’s mission is to enable global epilepsy learning, offer immersive research opportunities in Oxford, and serve as the multidisciplinary global epilepsy hub to facilitate bidirectional knowledge transfer. It will empower researchers and advocates, especially in Africa, and inspire clinical trainees and clinicians to transform epilepsy care across the world.
International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE)
More than 10 million people in Africa have epilepsy, yet at least 80% do not receive effective treatment. While epilepsy can be a devastating and chronic condition, with basic and affordable medication, more than 70% of people living with epilepsy could have seizure control. However, in much of Africa, epilepsy is misunderstood, stigmatized, underfunded, and ignored by the healthcare system. This IBE project, through technical assistance and small grants, aims to strengthen the advocacy capacity of African IBE chapters to advance efforts to improve epilepsy care at all levels of society.
Children’s National Hospital
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in Africa with very limited access to epilepsy care. In order to improve care and to increase access to epilepsy treatment, this project will train non-specialist health providers and bring services closer to where people live. This Children’s National project will use a task-shift model of training non-specialist health providers to diagnose, treat, and follow people with epilepsy in the primary care setting. This partnership between CNMC and Yekatit Hospital Medical College in Addis Ababa seeks to develop a cost-effective, sustainable and scalable model to improve access to epilepsy care in low-income countries.
Resources
Research and toolkits supported by the BAND Foundation:
IBE
Advocate’s Toolkit for Reducing Stigma in Africa
Advocate’s Toolkit for Making Epilepsy a Priority in Africa
Epilepsy Primer
Funders Learning Network for Global Epilepsy Brochure
Epilepsy & Seizures: Building Resources in the Community