Bangalore: Public perception about epilepsy should change, said Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde.

Mr. Hegde was inaugurating the seventh joint annual conference of Indian Epilepsy Association and Indian Epilepsy Society here on Thursday.

He said the two organisations should create awareness among the public and make sure that people from all strata of society understood that epilepsy was not a life threatening disease.

Act amended

"Earlier, it was considered dangerous and was one of the grounds for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act. Fortunately, in 1999, legislators realised that epilepsy is just an ailment and suitably amended the Act," he said.

About amendment to Motor Vehicles Act so as to allow epilepsy patients to drive legally, he said that since experts recommended amendments to the Act, the Union Government could consider it.

A few Western countries had allowed epilepsy patients to drive provided they had not had any seizures for one year.

Souvenir released

V.S. Acharya, Minister for Medical Education, who was the chief guest, released a souvenir on the occasion.

P.K. Sethi, president of Indian Epilepsy Association; V.S. Saxena, president of Indian Epilepsy Society; and Satish Jain, secretary-general of Indian Epilepsy Society, spoke.

H.V. Srinivas, chairman of the organising committee, ECON 2006, welcomed the gathering while G.T. Subhas, organising secretary of ECON 2006, proposed a vote of thanks.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail