By Dare Akogun
Nigerians have been admonished not to stigmatize children with cerebral palsy, but to relate well with them, support and help them achieve the best in life.
The admonition was given on Thursday during a road walk and sensitization forum organized by the Ministry of Social Development Kwara State in conjunction with Ifeoluwa Anise Initiative to mark the 2022 World Cerebral Day, the first of its kind in State.
Ifeoluwa, a cerebral palsy warrior and founder of Ifeoluwa Anise Initiative, an NGO which drums support and creates awareness about cerebral palsy admonished parents and guardians who have children affected by the condition not to be ashamed of them and hide them, rather, they should show them love and encouragement so that they can contribute their best to the society.
In his words, “children with cerebral palsy are not useless, they can become whatever they want to be, however, members of the society must desist from stigmatizing them but assist them because there is ability in disability”.
In his speech, the Honourable Commisioner for Health Kwara State, Dr Raji Razaq noted that the Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq led administration has embarked on a holistic approach to eliminate cerebral palsy by improving the healthcare in rural areas and upgrading of the secondary healthcare facilities across the State and will continue to do more.
Also speaking, the Hon. Commissioner for Social Development, Hon Bosede Aremu emphasized that the International Cerebral Palsy day is celebrated on October 6 annually, however, Kwara State government is marking it with series of continuous activities to sustain awareness about cerebral palsy even as the State will continue to make valuable investments in the health sector because health is wealth .
At the Sensitization forum Abdulraheem Aishat , a physiotherapist from the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) disclosed that Cerebral Palsy (CP) is an umbrella term which is a disorder of movement and posture that appears during infancy or early childhood resulting from damage to the brain and outwardly manifested by muscular incoordination and speech disturbances.
She further urged parents to watch out early for signs and symptoms of CP such as delays in reaching development milestones, seeming too stiff or too floppy, jerky or clumsy movements and uncontrolled movements muscle spasms.
The Physiotherapist also encouraged parents to know and prevent the risk factors of cerebral palsy which include low birth, multiple births, infections during pregnancy and jaundice.