Every May 24 , the National Epilepsy Day is celebrated throughout Spain ; a date dedicated to making visible to all those who suffer from this disease, as well as gathering support from all sectors of society to help in the treatment, prevention and awareness of this unknown and stigmatizing disease.
Here we tell you how this date was born and why it is important.
Origin of the National Epilepsy Day in Spain
The National Epilepsy Day in Spain is an initiative that arose in 2006 by Ápice Epilepsia ; an Andalusian epilepsy organization dedicated to the fight, defense and integration into society of all people with this neurological disease.
The National Epilepsy Day is represented with the color orange and allows to tell the whole society that this disease exists and that people who suffer from it deal with different handicaps in their daily, work and educational life.
The existence of National Epilepsy Day makes it possible to shout to the world that this disease is invisible on many occasions and that all the people who suffer from it, as well as their families, need a lot of support from all sectors of society.
According to the WHO, around the world there are more than 50 million people who suffer from epilepsy and of whom, a little more than three quarters do not receive the treatment they need. In Spain, epilepsy affects more than 700,000 people.