A Nigerian Consultant Paediatrician and Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences at the University of Lagos, Professor Afolabi Lesi, has lamented the growing rate of the cerebral palsy in the country.
Cerebral palsy is a health disorder that affects the brain of victims making them act abnormally just as it causes impairment in other areas of their lives like movement and speech delivery.
Professor Lesi, who spoke at the National Family Cerebral Forum, organised by Benola: A Cerebral Palsy Initiative, in Lagos, Nigeria, said a recent report on the ailment showed that 700, 000 children are affected in the country.
According to him, the report puts the figure at between five and 10 children per 1, 000 as against the between two and four children per 1, 000 in the United States.
Though not all cases of the ailment are complicated, the health expert said about 60 to 80 percent of the cases in Nigeria would have seizures, intellectual disabilities and others.
Looking at the number of people who make a family in Nigeria, he noted that five people are often affected when a relation has cerebral palsy.
“So if 700, 000 people are affected, about 3.5 million people are directly affected including 1.4 million parents,” he told the gathering.
Professor Lesi attributed some of the causes if the ailment to include alcoholism on the part of pregnant women, delay in the process of delivery of a child among others.
Founder of Benola Palsy Initiative, Air Vice Marshall Femi Gbadebo (Rtd) disclosed that the organisation was born due to the pains he shared with families of the people living with cerebral palsy.
He said: “I will simply state that my wife, Alaba and I are proud parents of Olalouwa, a 17-year old young man who was born with cerebral palsy a condition widely known and well managed in countries like Australia, the United States of America, Canada and most of Europe.”
He regretted that even though the existence of the ailment is becoming widely known in Nigeria, little has been done to alleviate the pains of sufferers.
“The reason for this is that in Nigeria and indeed most parts of Africa, stigma along with societal and cultural
pressures often combine to force parents who can afford proper care for such children to hide them from public view, while those who can ill-afford the needed care either abandon the children or use them as tools for begging.
“In fact, it is my strong belief that this state of neglect is what contributes to a large extent to the high rate of infant mortality in our rural communities.
“We have since our Public Presentation in February 2013, been working to build credibility and raise public awareness about Cerebral Palsy. We have also continued to build internal capacity and are currently working to establish a Road Map for Early Detection and Better Management of Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria.
The Road Map which we hope to have ready by December 2013 is scheduled to be presented to the Nigerian public in February 2014,” he disclosed.
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