Nearly 95% people with epilepsy in India don’t receive any treatment. Anti–epileptic drugs aren’t available to almost 50% patients in the public sector with less than 40% actually receiving generic medicines instead of the expensive branded ones.

Neurocysticercosis (parasitic disease of the nervous system) is responsible for about 30% of seizure disorders in the Indian subcontinent. Epilepsy is often associated with substantial stigma, with most people with epilepsy less likely to be sent to school, find employment or marry. Around 14 people per 1,000 population (median lifetime prevalence) are expected to suffer from epilepsy in countries like India with higher estimates in children and young adults, and in rural areas. These are the findings of a study by University of Oxford and published in the British medical journal The Lancet on Friday. More than 85% of the global burden of epilepsy occurs in low–income countries including India.