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The Executive Director of Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, Dr Otiko Afisah Djaba, has called for an attitudinal change in dealing with Persons with Disabilities, particularly those with cerebral palsy, towards building an inclusive society.

Addressing stakeholders at the Mamprobi Presby Church in Accra to mark this year’s World Cerebral Palsy Day, which was on October 6, Dr Djaba said having cerebral palsy was not “something funny.”

“Let us stop the discrimination, marginalization, mockery, stigmatization, and alienating people with a disability now,” she stressed.

“Let us make a mark by changing our attitudes and showing love to persons with different abilities,” She added.

“Show them some love, for they need hope, they need you and I, to fight for them, and they need a cure to live in an inclusive society.”

Ghana celebrated the 2020 World Cerebral Palsy (CP) Day on October 6, a day set aside by the global community to raise awareness on Cerebral Palsy.

At least one in 323 children worldwide has been identified with CP, according to estimates from Autism and Development Disabilities Monitoring Network.

Cerebral Palsy prevalence is estimated to range from 1.5 to more than 4 per 1,000 live births worldwide, though in Ghana, about 96,000 people have the condition.

IT is a medical condition that those who have it, live with it for the rest of their lives. Experts describe it as the most common motor disability in childhood.

“We have to be sensitive to their needs, help them manage their daily lives and support them to make their mark during their life journeys,” Dr Djaba said.

She stated, “I want us all to salute the mothers, caregivers, and the fathers who don’t run away but stay to provide encouragement and hope.

“They deserve a break. They have no social life, they can’t work because 24/7 they are looking after these children. “

She noted that the mental state of parents of children with CP was very important, and, therefore, needed emotional, psychological, family support, and safety nets to help them live a comfortable life.

Dr Djaba said Ghana needed policies and better structures, better organised inclusive education and systems for professional caregivers to be trained to support parents.

“No one wants to have a child with a disability but when it happens, you have to live with it,” she said.

Dr. Djaba said parents with children with CP required help for assessment, for feeding, for physiotherapy, to take a break, help with the children and house chores.

On behalf of the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation, she invited parents and caregivers of children with CP to “Let’s Talk Ability,” a TV Show aired on AdomTv on Sundays and repeated on Thursdays.

The Executive Director challenged stakeholders to adopt, at least, one person with cerebral palsy and make a mark in their lives, saying, “Persons with Cerebral Palsy’s lives matter.”

She noted that COVID-19 was wreaking havoc in people’s lives and yet they were learning to live with it and manage it.

“I am asking us to do the same with people with disability and in particular, cerebral palsy.”

Dr Djaba, a former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, stated that she was inspired and challenged every time she encountered a person with CP or a caregiver.

“They have a special character, style, intelligence and tenacity to achieve, will to live with their challenges, to breaking down the barriers and coming up with creative solutions and initiatives,” she said.

Dr. Djaba congratulated stakeholders for the foresight and said
it was important to realize that the focus should not just be on the children, but also directed at their adulthood.

“The children do grow into adults, they live long, and that comes with other health complications like arthritis, forming relationships, marriage, childbearing and employment,” she added and invited parents with children and adults with CP to come for a free assessment at the Henry Djaba Memorial Foundation this October.