Mr Emmanuel Asante, Care-giver and grandfather of a five
year old girl with cerebral palsy is urging government to facilitate the
creation of centres for children with cerebral palsy.
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| A physiotherapist assessing Nhyira at home |
He further called for services such as physiotherapy
services and other therapy services to be extended to homes of children with
cerebral palsy to enhance their quality of life.
“Children with cerebral palsy tend to get heavier as they
grow and it becomes almost impossible to carry them for services such as
physiotherapy in the hospitals,” Mr Asante said in an interview with the media.
Mr Asante a pensioner who is struggling to take care of her
five year old grand-daughter said it was important to train parents with basic
skills in physiotherapy to prevent the children from getting contractures due
to care givers inability to take them for services they need.
Having centres for children with cerebral palsy for instance
in every district will also enable the parents to leave their children in good
hands to enable them work and earn a living.
Mr Asante said it will be absurd for him to even think of sending
her granddaughter to school but having a centre for the children will give the
family a lot of relief
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| HannahAwadzi, having a chat with Mr Asante |
Recounting his journey as a primary care-giver for her granddaughter,
he said “her condition put a huge strain on our finances, we use to take her
for physiotherapy services at Korle-bu but as she grew older, we could no
longer afford the cost.”
He explained that he always had to hire a taxi to take her
in addition to the cost of the physiotherapy; we could no longer afford the
drugs such as anticonvulsants.
Five year old Nhyira with cerebral palsy now needs an
urgent surgery, she is deaf and blind. Mr Asante urged government to support
families with children who have cerebral palsy by including them as
beneficiaries of the disability funds.
He also called on the public to come to their aid and help
put a smile on Nhyira’s face.
“Having a child with cerebral palsy requires a lot of
finances, yet many parents and care-givers are unable to work since they have
to take care of these children all the time,” he added
Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that affects the
movement and sometimes speech of children.
Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Initiator of the Special Mothers Project,
an advocacy and awareness creation programme on cerebral palsy in Ghana, said
there was the need for an umbrella body that coordinated the activities of
individual organizations working on cerebral palsy.
Such coordination she said will help point parents and care
givers to the right services they need and will enhance the advocacy campaign.
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