Newswise — Certain aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic were short lived, like lockdowns and social distancing. ILAE webinars, on the other hand, have not only persisted since 2020 but also become more frequent.
The ILAE Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) began offering epilepsy webinars during the pandemic to provide ongoing education and interaction to clinicians. The webinars also were meant to increase awareness of ILAE in the area.
“In the Eastern Mediterranean region, ILAE was not very visible,” said Chahnez Triki, pediatric neurologist and executive board member of ILAE-Eastern Mediterranean. “The chapters are not very connected with one another or seen as involved in the work of ILAE. We wanted to change that.”
As the EMR webinars continued, organizers noticed that most attendees were from countries in another region: Africa.
“Attendees from the African region were double the number of attendees from the Eastern Mediterranean and other regions,” said Fatema Abdulla, adult neurologist and executive board member of ILAE-Eastern Mediterranean. “As a result, there was a request to have combined webinars as a joint project between EMR and Africa.”
The cooperative webinars were launched in June 2021 in two languages: French and English. “We alternated, so one month would be an Eastern Mediterranean presenter and then the next month an African presenter,” said Abdulla. “We also structured it so if the presenter was from EMR, the moderator was from Africa. Sometimes we had panelists from both regions.”
The benefits of the cooperative venture extended far beyond what organizers expected.
Discovering new speakers
“We were surprised; there were many expert neurologists and epileptologists in the regions who we never knew about,” said Abdulla. “We had an opportunity to get to know each other and share experiences.”
Triki agreed. “We had some excellent speakers that we were not aware of before,” she said.
Practice for young professionals
The initiative has provided an important outlet for career development among younger clinicians, said Triki. “We have a lot of young people who present in webinars, and many of them will never have the chance to attend an international congress in person,” she said. “This gives them the opportunity to speak and give a lecture to an international community.”
Making connections, solving problems
Many of the webinars covered region-specific challenges and success stories, said Abdulla. “We tried as much as possible to help members in each chapter discover their specific needs and challenges, as well as solutions and success stories,” she said. “People shared their expertise and how similar challenges were solved.”
The EMR region is geographically and economically diverse, resulting in a wide variety of topics and perspectives. “The region is sort of three zones, and each has its own challenges, in terms of manpower or the economy,” said Triki. “The webinars merged all of these challenges and we worked to solve them.”
Forging social connections
Triki said the joint webinars have led to friendships among presenters and new relationships among centers. Before the webinars were established, French speakers and English speakers in the Eastern Mediterranean region were not well connected with one another. The webinars changed that.
“We now know one another through these webinars, and when we attend congresses we meet and have conversations—this is very important for our region,” she said. “The webinars have medical impact, scientific impact, and social impact.”
Economic benefits
The webinars also have significant economic impact, bringing accessible education to professionals who may not have the resources to attend congresses or other in-person programs.
“Speakers in Africa usually don’t have the ability to attend the International Epilepsy Congress, so the webinar is very important for them, as well as for French speakers in North Africa,” said Triki. “It is not economically possible for them to attend a congress, so this gives them an opportunity.”
The webinars also have become part of the curriculum of the Master’s degree in Epileptology at the University of Sfax—a program that Triki helps to manage. Students are required to view the webinars, and material from them may appear on exams.
Stronger together for global health
The webinar series is not aimed at epilepsy specialists, noted Triki; it is helpful for all types of general practitioners.
“This fits with the efforts of IGAP,” she said, referring to the Intersectoral Global Action Plan on Epilepsy and other Neurological Disorders (need link). The webinars directly address Target 5.1—increasing countries’ service coverage for epilepsy by 50%—and indirectly address many of the other plan targets.
Success by the numbers
Cooperative webinars were held monthly between June 2021 and January 2024. French webinars continue as joint ventures; to address scheduling issues, each region now holds its own English webinar.
The project resulted in 22 English webinars and, as of mid-July 2024, 27 French webinars. Each recorded webinar is posted on YouTube, where the videos have received more than 31,000 views (11,800 for English webinars and 19,200 for French).
All told, the webinars have attracted more than 8,000 registrants; 53% were from the African region, highlighting the need for accessible educational options.
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Founded in 1909, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) is a global organization with more than 125 national chapters.
Through promoting research, education and training to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease, ILAE is working toward a world where no person’s life is limited by epilepsy.
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