People, especially residents in rural communities of Nigeria, have been told not to discriminate against patients of epilepsy or  equate epilepsy with madness.

Speaking at a sensitisation programme on epilepsy in Ilorin, Kwara State,  a member of Nigerian Epilepsy Society, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UITH, Dr Kolawole Abdulwahab, said myths on epilepsy were not true, adding that a patient suffering from epilepsy is as sane as any normal person.

"The disease is not contagious, so, it is not communicable and epilepsy patients are not possessed by demons because it is a disease of the brain and does not imply possession by a demon", he said.

Dr Abdulwahab, who is a neurologist at the UITH, called for a legislation to make treatment of epilepsy free in Nigerian hospitals.

"Government has been helping here because they put up most of public hospitals, but they can do better. If we have good health insurance policy, government could make drug free for epilepsy patients", he said.

He said the aim of the sensitisation was to bring out epilepsy out of the shadow, adding that a lot of people with the disease had been stigmatised, stressing that it should stop.

He said there were effective drugs for treatment of epilepsy when patients were brought to hospitals for medical attention, adding that the treatment was not expensive.

As part of preventive measures against the disease, Dr Abdulwahab advised pregnant women to register at recognised hospitals so that adequate care could be given during pregnancy and delivery.

"This is because if you have a baby who does not cry immediately after birth, such a child can develop epilepsy in future. Someone who is supposed to cry after one minute of birth but is now crying after about 15 minutes can have brain damage and in future such a person can develop epilepsy," he said.

He however, said people should not stigmatise epilepsy patients, saying they can achieve their full potentials in life.