Dr. Jilek-Aall's epilepsy clinic was maintained with the cooperation of a local Catholic mission nurse and African volunteers who were accorded regular consultative correspondence with Dr. Jilek-Aall. Initially she was only able to secure a consistent supply of medication from abroad. In 1989, the clinic was reinvigorated by the interest shown by the Tanzanian neurologist Dr. Henry Rwiza. Having completed his training in the Netherlands, Dr. Rwiza conducted an epidemiological survey of convulsive disorders in the whole of the Ulanga district. Funded from the Netherlands and conducted under the auspices of Dr. Rwiza's former teacher, epileptologist Dr. Harry Meinardi, this study confirmed Dr. Jilek-Aall's suppositions made some 30 years before. Scientific evidence confirmed that the prevalence of epilepsy in Mahenge was about ten times higher than in Western countries.

The Mahenge Epilepsy Clinic was reorganized and expanded in 1990 when Dr. Jilek-Aall revisited the area to plan a research project together with Dr. Rwiza into the ethiology and clinical characteristics of Kifafa and the reasons for the high prevalence of convulsive disorders among the Wapogoro. The research was approved and funded for three years by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in 1991 and carried out by a group of scientists from the University of British Columbia Canada and from the University of Dar-es Salaam Tanzania under the leadership of Dr. Jilek-Aall in cooperation with Dr. Rwiza.

The IDRC research group found many reasons for the high prevalence of epilepsy, as one finds in most tropical regions such as: malaria and other parasitic infestations, meningitis and other infections, perinatal traumas, infantile gastroenteritis and other illnesses leading to fever convulsions etc. But it was felt that these general causes could not explain the unusual high prevalence of the Kifafa affliction which often was a very severe form of epilepsy, accompanied by other neurological symptom and quite frequently by mental problems.

Nearing the close of the research project, Dr. Jilek-Aall found it striking that so many of the Kifafa sufferers showed signs of being infested with the Filaria-worm Onchocerca volvulus. She consequently learned that epidemiological research carried out by parasitologist from the University of Dar-es Salaam had shown that Mahenge mountains are the area of the heaviest infestation of onchocerca volvulus of the whole country of Tanzania. Attempts to eradicate this worm have been undertaken by the World Health Organization in many parts of Africa because this Filaria is proven to be connected to a better known malady known as "river blindness."

Since 1991 the Mahenge Epilepsy Clinic, situated in the middle of the research area, steadily accepted new patients and had a patient population of more than 900. Contrary to everybody's predictions--except Dr. Jilek-Aall's--most patients proved themselves to be reliable in getting their medication on the appointed day and taking their medication regularly, as prescribed, for years on end. Consequently the people of Mahenge have learned that the affliction of Kifafa can be controlled with western medicine. Many of the patients are accepted back into their families due to the prescriptions of Phenobarbital and Phenytoin. During several decades of operation, government agencies were not able to pay for the large amount of medicines necessary and so the clinic was largely dependant upon funds provided by Dr. Jilek-Aall and other overseas sources.