Commission Elections

Results of Commission election - Letter from Peter Wolf

	Sheryl Haut, Chair (USA)

Commission Members

The following candidates received the most votes and have accepted their elections.
Nathalie Jette (Canada)	Jose Cavazos (USA)	Jaideep Kaipur (USA)
The following candidates have been appointed to the Commission:
Dave Clarke (Caribbean League) Statement Curriculum vitae	Vicente Iragui

Perú-Canada Collaboration

Dr. Jorge G Burneo  during workshop on video-EEG in Lima, Aug 2008	Dr. David Steven, Epilepsy surgeon, reviewing cases with epilepsy team in Lima, Aug 2012	Dr. David Steven providing support during first ever temporal lobectomy in Perú, at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurologicas in Lima, Peru, 2012

Perú is located in Western South America, and has a population of more than 29 million, with an estimate of more than half a million with epilepsy (prevalence of 17.8 per 1000 people). Only in its capital Lima, with a population of 8.5 million, there is an estimate of more than 150,000 persons with epilepsy and approximately 45,000 with medically-intractable epilepsy. Despite these large numbers, there had not been formal Comprehensive Epilepsy Programs until the end of 2011.

With the support of the “Partnering Epilepsy Centers in America” Program (PECA), supported by the North American Commission of the ILAE, the Epilepsy Program at the Western University (Ontario, Canada) paired with the Department of Epilepsy at the Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Neurologicas (INCN) in Lima. Since 2008, these two institutions have been working together, organizing workshops, visits to Perú and London (Canada), and reviewing cases online, among other activities. The main objectives of this partnership have been realized, the latest one being the performance of the first ever temporal lobectomy in a patient with medically-intractable temporal lobe epilepsy due to hippocampal sclerosis in Perú.

The Collaborative work between Peru and Canada has been successful and can be used as a model for the development of Epilepsy Programs in other countries in need. The success of this collaboration has been mainly based on the driving force and keenness of the young neurologists and neurosurgeon at the INCN. As a result, the collaboration has been extended to the other health system that exists in Peru, the Social Security System (ESSALUD), which has more advanced and better equipped hospitals.

The work has not stopped, but will continue through continuous educational online activities, and more visits to Peru and Canada.

If you want more information about PECA, please contact the chair of the North American Commission Sheryl.haut@einstein.yu.edu

Reference: Burneo et al, Epilep & Behav 2013; 26: 96-9.

North American Regional Commission

The current North American Regional Commission (NAC) was constituted in 2006, comprising English speaking North American Chapters of Canada, the United States of America, and the English speaking Caribbean (represented by Jamaica). The Mexican chapter, although geographically in North America, is a member of the Latin American Regional Commission.