1 Promenade Circle, Suite 308
Thornhill, Ontario
L4J 4P8
March, 2007
For immediate release
March is Epilepsy Awareness Month
THORNHILL, March 12, 2007 – Epilepsy Ontario (EO) has launched its annual lavender ribbon campaign to raise awareness about what epilepsy is and how it affects people's lives. The focus of this year's campaign is the importance of treating people with epilepsy fairly. Fairness doesn't always happen for people with epilepsy – some have even been fired from their jobs because they have the disorder.
"Why does epilepsy need more awareness? Because it simply isn't talked about," says Dr. McIntyre Burnham, President of EO. "Even though epilepsy affects over 300,000 Canadians, many people still don't understand the disorder. This can create fear and a stigma around it. Creating awareness is crucial to helping care for people with epilepsy – the more people understand the problem, the more likely we can find a solution."
People across Ontario can help create awareness in a number of ways. They can print out posters and pamphlets from EO's website at
www.epilepsyontario.org and put them up at work. People can also wear a lavender ribbon to help get the word out.
Why a lavender ribbon? The lavender flower is associated with solitude. This symbolizes the feelings of isolation and seclusion that people living with epilepsy and seizure disorders often experience. Funds raised from our lavender ribbon campaign will be used for community development and programs and services for those living with epilepsy.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder—a physical condition—which causes a malfunction of the electrical signals that controls the brain. It is characterized by sudden, brief seizures whose nature and intensity varies from person to person.
Many people living with epilepsy are reluctant to disclose their condition because of the fear of what others might think. This can happen on the job too. But firing someone because they have epilepsy is not allowed under the Ontario Human Rights Code, which lists it as a disability that's protected from discrimination.
"We've seen too many cases of people being fired and excluded because they have epilepsy and this has to change," says Burnham. "People with epilepsy need to be treated fairly, just like anyone else with a medical condition. Epilepsy can happen to anyone, but no one should lose their job because they have it."
For the past 51 years EO has been dedicated to creating independence and an optimal quality of life for people living with seizure disorders by promoting awareness, advocacy, support services, education and research. EO is a registered, not-for-profit charitable organization.
For further details on how to raise awareness of epilepsy in Ontario, please contact Dianna Findlay, Executive Director of EO, or your local epilepsy chapter at 905 764 5099 or at
info@epilepsyontario.org.
Peter Zvanitajs
Media Relations Specialist
National Marketing & Communications
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
416 941 8383 ext.13408
peter.zvanitajs@ca.pwc.com
