The Benola Initiative as part of its objective of becoming the leading source of information on cerebral palsy in Africa organised a 2-day Roundtable Meeting of Experts to deliberate on "Early Detection and Effective Management Regime for Persons with Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria".
The event which took place at Lekki Peninsular Hotel Lagos, Nigeria on 11th and 12th April 2013 had a good number of professionals, specialists and other relevant stakeholders in attendance.
Below is a copy of the communique
INCIDENCE
There is no known data base for Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria but available records indicate an incidence rate of 60 cases of Developmental Delays in every 1000 births in Lagos, out of which a sizeable number are later confirmed as Cerebral Palsy while 7 out of 10 children referred to Lagos University Teaching Hospital for neurological developmental assessment have Cerebral Palsy. It is therefore safe to say that Cerebral palsy in Nigeria is a major source of concern and there is an urgent need for Government to take steps to establish a credible data base of the condition in Nigeria to aid in planning for an effective management program.
EARLY DETECTION
Causes of Cerebral Palsy vary from complications in the womb to difficulties encountered during delivery and traumatic illnesses or accidents involving young infants which sometimes result in brain damage. Therefore, children exhibiting signs of abnormality or developmental delay which can be detected at birth or at later stages at home should be assessed by either a primary health worker or general practitioner and referred to a paediatrician who should then order for Neurological assessment which is the primary source of confirmation of Cerebral Palsy. Once confirmed, the pediatrician should coordinate a multi disciplinary management program for the child.
MANAGEMENT (MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH)
The fact that Cerebral Palsy has no cure has been over stated. But if properly managed, complications that normally arise from the condition can be greatly minimised and even eliminated in some cases. Available management options include but are not limited to:
Physical Rehabilitation:
Physiotherapy
Occupational therapy
Surgical Intervention:
Orthopedic surgery
Neuro surgery
Vision surgery
Hearing Surgery
Gastroenterology surgery
Medicine:
A wide range of drugs are available for the regulation, removal or management of identified problems that could arise as a result of cerebral palsy. Depending on the severity of the patient’s condition, muscle relaxants, pain relievers and anti-depressants are used. In addition, there are drugs that help control drooling, seizures, constipation, etc.
Complementary and Alternative Treatment Methods:
The Roundtable recognised that there are Complementary & alternative treatment methods being advertised for the treatment of Cerebral Palsy but dissociates itself from their use because of lack of proper documentation or published research findings.
Other options include Vocational Counselling as well as Speech and language therapy which can help to improve, communication skills, strengthen muscles of the jaw and mouth leading to improvements in chewing and swallowing ability of the affected individual.
INCLUSION
In the Developed World, the term “Special Schools” is no longer used and emphasis has shifted to fully integrating persons with limitations into the society as much as possible, both socially and educationally. But that calls for both dedicated facilities and trained personnel that are in short supply in Nigeria.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for Government to establish additional facilities for the training of relevant personnel in areas of special needs education and enact laws to make it mandatory for all public institutions and buildings to be disabled friendly.
ASSISTIVE DEVICES
There are numerous options available for persons with disability, depending on their individual needs. However, the good ones are not available locally. Locally attempts to fabricate them are at best crude and have been known to sometimes result in secondary damage to the individual. Government should therefore embark on training and retraining of manpower in the area of fabrication and maintenance of assistive devices, rehabilitation of existing facilities and build new ones for the manufacture of modern state of the art assistive devices.
THE FAMILY
The unique nature of Cerebral Palsy places huge demands on the time and resources of Family members but experience has shown that with proper care, support and encouragement, family members can become the strongest advocates of Cerebral Palsy. There is therefore a need to bring these families together to form support and or pressure groups.
ADVOCACY
Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria is real and it affects a reasonable number of persons but, due to poor knowledge of the warning signs, most cases are miss-diagnosed leading to wrong management techniques. In addition, families in their thousands, live with the trauma of having to care for their loved ones in that condition, some of whom are totally dependent. Therefore, there is a need for families, practitioners, concerned citizens and well-meaning individuals to come together to help raise awareness about Cerebral Palsy. Such concerted effort will help enlighten the general public, remove the stigma that is presently attached to the condition in some communities and draw attention of Government, the private sector and philanthropists to the need for Cerebral Palsy to be given the right attention that it deserves.
THE MANAGEMENT TEAM
The following professionals form the multi-disciplinary team required for effective management of Cerebral Palsy:
A Physician
An Orthopedist
A Physical therapist
An Occupational therapist
A Speech and language pathologist
A Social worker
A Psychologist
An Educator/Special educator
Unfortunately, none of them are available in the right number to cope with the demand, especially at the local or rural level. There is therefore an urgent
need for government to train more of such specialists and make their conditions of service attractive enough to encourage deployment to rural areas.
*End Of Communique*
For more information: www.benola.org
Facebook: Benola - A Cerebral Palsy Initiative
No comments:
Post a Comment