Epilepsy support group founder Yashoda Wakankar to receive international recognition

Speaking about her experiences,Wakankar said,“When we started Sanvedana,many people from all over the state,and sometimes from other states as well,started coming to meet us. I realised very soon that I had been brought up in a very secure and educated family and have faced very few problems in comparison to others. There are so many who do not even know that there are treatments available today.” Till date,Sanvedana has counselled more than 500 people with epilepsy and their families as well. “We gave them a direction towards the treatment,helped them develop an attitude of acceptance of epilepsy and spoke to them about all the other psychological aspects,” Wakankar added.

The ninth edition of the award ceremony by the Asian and Oceanian Epilepsy Congress will be held in Manila,Philippines,on March 22. “It is overwhelming for me to have been selected for this award. However,I would like to say that our achievement is more of a team effort. I only happened to start this activity; the group is now run by committed parents and people with epilepsy. I will represent the entire group while receiving this award,” she said. There is still a lot to achieve,she feels. “This year,we have decided to conduct awareness programmes in rural areas and slums in the cities and in the schools. We hope that will make a huge difference,” she said.