International Epilepsy Day is celebrated on February 13.
The purple light which, on this day, lights up on various monuments in Italy "marks the daily commitment of the epilepsy community to break an age-old 'stigma' which in our country finds its peak in the world of work. Over 40% of people with epilepsy of working age are unemployed. The mere declaration of taking anti-seizure medicines, even if under full control, is the cause of a preconceived refusal to access any job".
Aice Odv, the Italian Association Against Epilepsy, denounces it in a note.
"It will certainly not be the only cultural campaigns to break down the "stigma" on epilepsy - underlines the note, signed by the president Giovanni Battista Pesce - but, certainly yes, the approval of a law that sanctions our Full Citizenship".
2023 sees Aice particularly optimistic.
A year in which "important proposals are being made that will make a leap in quality" in the management of the pathology, which affects around 550 thousand Italians.
For example with the approval of a law for the rights of people with epilepsy.
Already forthcoming in the last Legislature and blocked by its premature interruption, it has been re-proposed for discussion by Parliament.
Then, the completion of the work of the national control room of the National Chronicity Plan on the Aice proposal to dedicate an in-depth profile to epilepsy, the protection of therapeutic continuity for all chronic and disabling pathologies and the establishment of a ministerial table attended by the associations of
Aice -Fire Italian Epilepsy Research Foundation will also launch the 17th public tender for the allocation of funds, 40,000 euros, to research projects on drug-resistant epilepsy.