In the recent past, due to the pandemic and humanitarian crisis, the
healthcare system has dived into turmoil, especially regarding core
facilities for women and maternal health. Afghanistan has the highest
maternal mortality rate globally according to the WHO, with a startling
638 deaths per 100,000 live births. In such a decrepit system, regime
changes resulted in major donors withdrawing from the national primary
care service program leading to serious consequences for Afghani women
such as women being compelled to deliver babies at home instead of
hospitals increasing the risk of infections and maternal mortality.
Major challenges faced by the Afghan healthcare system include the
cessation of international funding due to the humanitarian crisis, the
shortage of medicines, and the failure to deliver salaries to healthcare
workers. According to the UNFPA, due to these challenges, more than 90%
of healthcare facilities are at risk of closure, leading to an estimated
4.8 million unattended pregnancies and 51,000 maternal deaths between
2021 and 2025. To ensure such a catastrophe does not arise, the World
Bank, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and
UNFPA in collaboration with governments around the world have pledged
aid, both monetary and in terms of equipment & resources to
Afghanistan. In addition, local Afghan organizations such as the AHDS
and JACK must also be supported to further their work in providing
healthcare services.
Approximately 80% of patients with epilepsy reside in poor resource settings. Despite the continued advancements and development of new treatment approaches, epilepsy remains a major health problem in developing countries. Consistent findings of epidemiologic studies reflect that both prevalence and treatment gap are higher in the developing world. The objective of this short review was to evaluate current treatment options and low‐intensity, pulsed‐focused ultrasound (FUS) as a potential new treatment option for epilepsy. Although some of the patients could be candidates for surgery, many factors, including poor health‐care infrastructure, socioeconomic status, risks and complications associated with the surgery, and patients’ preferences and attitudes toward the surgical procedure, limit the adherence to get surgical therapies. Low‐intensity FUS, a novel and noninvasive therapeutic approach, has the potential to be approved by regulatory bodies and added to the list of standard treatment options for epilepsy. Improved understanding of epilepsy's prevalence and incidence in developing worlds, identification of potential new therapeutic options, and their evaluation through continuous studies and clinical trials are needed to reduce the burden of epilepsy and the treatment gap.
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