HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced eight awards worth $2.9 million to health organizations and academic institutions to improve care and services for children and youth with epilepsy. 
 
“The new initiative will put in place statewide demonstration programs to increase services for this central nervous system disorder,” says Secretary Thompson.   “Of the 181,000 new cases of epilepsy that are estimated to occur this year, approximately 50,000 will be diagnosed in children and adolescents under the age of 18.”
   
Six awards, including one of $400,826 to the Epilepsy Foundation, will improve access to care among children and youth with epilepsy who live in medically underserved areas.  First-year funds for the three-year program will support community partnerships to allow early detection and treatment by improving access to ongoing care, addressing shortages in subspecialty care, identifying cultural and language barriers, and developing strategies for improving current systems of treatment.
 
A second award to the Epilepsy Foundation, worth $750,000, will support a national education campaign to increase access to care for minorities, raise professional and public awareness about epilepsy, and help reduce the stigma still associated with the disorder, which is marked by recurring seizures.
 
Efforts toward a quality improvement strategy in epilepsy care and services based on a learning collaborative model will be the focus of the award to the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality.  
 
Congress established the epilepsy program, administered by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration through its Maternal and Child Health Bureau, as part of the Children’s Health Act of 2000.
 
A table of awardees follows:
 

Awareness and Access to Care for Children and Youth With Epilepsy, FY 2004
Organization	City	State	Award
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles	Los Angeles	Calif.	$250,000
District of Columbia Department of Health.	Washington	D.C.	250,000
Epilepsy Foundation	Landover	Md.	750,000
Epilepsy Foundation	Landover	Md.	400,826
Nat'l Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality	Boston	Mass.	499,511
Easter Seals Oregon	Portland	Ore.	242,255
West Virginia University Research Corp	Morgantown	W.Va.	249,235
Medical College of Wisconsin	Milwaukee	Wis.	249,994
TOTAL:			$2,891,821