UCLA global health program aims to boost neurological care in South Africa

When it came to getting the best treatment for his parents ’ neurologic illnesses, Sam Miller and his family experienced frustration finding the right doctors in their home country of South Africa.Miller ’s mother, Brenda, developed multiple sclerosis in her late 20s, and his father, Winston, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in his 60s.Over the four decades of his mother ’s illness before her death in 2008, the increasingly acute shortage of neurologists in South Africa made the top specialists there much sought-after and overworked. They had little time to talk through treatment options, much less provide second opinions.“It was difficult to get the time and attention from specialists, because their number had declined substantially in recent years,” Miller said. “It was a discouraging exercise, and at times very distressing, not knowing where to turn. It became apparent that there were too few specialists on the neurology side and those that remained, even in treating private patients, would not entertain alternative or parallel courses of treatment.”There is a great disparity between the rich and poor in South Africa, which has a population of about 55 million, Miller said. More than half of the population lives in poverty and they rely on the public health care system, but there are not enough doctors or facilities to serve that many people.So Miller approached theUCLA Center for World Health, which he learned about in late 2014 through Johan Klopper...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news