Report from the President and Chief Executive Officer

Eric Hargis,
President and CEO,
Epilepsy Foundation

We are all given time in equal measure. Sixty seconds to the minute and nothing more.

But for millions of Americans, precious moments disappear without a trace. Unconscious moments caused by seizures are only part of the challenge for people with epilepsy. For many, what's lost is far more precious than time.

Seizures mean... educational moments lost at school... productive moments lost at work... leisure moments lost at home ...and, for many, the loss of independence and opportunities everyone should have a chance to enjoy.

Seizures are also responsible for loss of life amounting to 25,000 to 50,000 deaths in our country every year. In fact, one in ten Americans will experience at least one seizure in their lifetime

During the past year, the Epilepsy Foundation has continued to support research for more effective treatments and eventually a cure so that one day not a single life or a single moment will be lost to seizures. In fact, we have sharpened our focus on research to understand more about epilepsy – the cause, new and more effective treatments, and ultimately potential cures.

For example, we expanded our efforts by creating the Epilepsy Research Foundation. This new venture is an exciting partnership of organizations to speed the translation of cutting-edge science into practical solutions for the control and prevention of seizures. These vital discoveries have created a new challenge and a growing opportunity for turning what is known in the laboratory into more effective future therapies so that every moment in life is no longer threatened by a possible seizure.

We also continued our work to ensure that almost 3 million people in America with epilepsy are able to participate in all of life's experiences. In the social arena, we believe it is now time for the epilepsy community to increase its efforts on eliminating the stigma associated with epilepsy. Our goal is to disperse the black cloud of ignorance that has kept epilepsy in the shadows throughout human history, and to create more accepting attitudes in future generations.

The Epilepsy Foundation and its affiliate organizations are taking the lead in this effort. We are working to force the issue of unfair discrimination into public consciousness and create an environment where people affected by epilepsy feel empowered to speak out. Growing participation in some of our key programs – Kids Speak Up!, Public Policy Institute, and Speak Up, Speak Out – tells us that the community is more than ready to take on this challenge as well.

This past year, we also established a program partnership with the Healthcare Resources and Services Administration. This new partnership, together with our ongoing relationship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has significantly increased the Epilepsy Foundation's public outreach capacity. Some of the awareness and education programs conducted under these partnerships are described in this report. These programs and others that are described reach a wide array of people who, when given appropriate information about epilepsy and its treatment, are critically important to lessening epilepsy’s impact on those who have the disorder.

The Epilepsy Foundation's expanding public outreach, increasing involvement of people touched by epilepsy in events affecting them, and increasing federal government recognition of epilepsy as a national public health problem, signal a new day when genuine progress in fighting stigma and improving how people with epilepsy are perceived, accepted and valued in society is an achievable reality.

Eric Hargis
President & CEO
Epilepsy Foundation