In Romania, the social stigma and the education level make epilepsy not just a medical problem, but a social problem as well.
The official statistics regarding the prevalence of the epilepsy disease indicated 120,000 officially registered patients but the physicians that have long been working in the fight against epilepsy earnestly assert that the real number is closer to 300,000 individuals in Romania. There are many geographic areas that are either farther away or more poorly serviced in medical care, where we are at the level of the 80s. Currently, patients from rural areas and fragile communities tend to travel to well-established university centres, overburdening an already overloaded system.
The Globalworth Foundation deploys funds and expands with the tenth epilepsy and EEG Monitoring Center, in Miercurea Ciuc. Through this project, the Globalworth Foundation is using telemedicine solutions to reduce the barrier in healthcare inequality for disadvantaged communities from Romania.
“The highest positive impact is at the patient level, as they can receive comprehensive examinations without having to go on expensive, troublesome journeys to the nearest university center. They will thus receive the highest level of medical assistance at home”, says Doctor Bogdan Florea, neurologist, founder and coordinator of the Romanian Telemedicine in Epilepsy network.
The highly-performant 25,000 euro EEG video device will be used for the comprehensive, accurate diagnosis of epilepsy patients in Harghita county and the neighboring areas while facilitating the monitoring of the evolution of the disorder over time. Thanks to this project, physicians with higher experience collaborating with the network, in the country or abroad, can offer a second opinion, without the need for long, exhausting journeys to the university centres.
The COVID pandemic encouraged the growth of the telemedicine concept, in general, so this is no longer an abstract concept. A patient in a remote area can be invited to a local doctor’s office. His or her medical records, test results, anamnesis, evolution in time, all of these can be reviewed by a professor thousands of kilometres away, without touching the patient. The professor can offer an expert opinion for the benefit of the patient, but the health care coordinator will remain the local doctor.
“We know that the public healthcare system is overstrained, that the great university centres are overcrowded, and that chronic patients had a lot to suffer in the past year. Here is a successful telemedicine project in Romania, already running for several years, which has already proven its effectiveness, having helped so far over 4000 individuals. We are glad to contribute towards the expansion of the program and thus facilitate the access to diagnosis and modern treatment for a larger number of people suffering from epilepsy”, added Georgiana Iliescu, Executive Director, Globalworth Foundation.