The purpose of the educational programme is to raise public awareness of epilepsy, train teachers to properly react in cases of epileptic seizures and remove the stigma surrounding this neurological disease, project leader Nina Barisic told a news conference in Zagreb.
The programme will also cover pupils in an attempt to dispel prejudices and misinformation such as that epilepsy is contagious or a psychological disorder.
In Croatia, some 40,000 people have epilepsy, and 7,000 of them are children. In Zagreb alone, 800 kindergarten children have been diagnosed with neurological problems, including epilepsy.
There are approximately 50 million people around the world living with epilepsy. This is the most common neurological disorder worldwide, and 60 per cent of cases diagnosed with epilepsy have unknown causes.
Purple Day as a campaign was launched by Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia in 2008 and this Canadian girl was motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy. Beginning in 2008, people are encouraged to wear a purple-coloured item of clothing on March 26. Purple and lavender are often associated with epilepsy, as for example in the wearing of a lavender ribbon.