…parents decry poor diagnostic centres
By Sarah NEGEDU
The call for more awareness on autism and other neurological disorders has gained with the FCT minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, pledging to support efforts aimed at drawing attention to the challenges faced by persons with invisible disabilities, particularly in the FCT.
Bello, who made the commitment during a courtesy visit to the Brain Bloom Centre, Apo, Abuja, assured of the administration’s continued commitment towards improving the quality of life of those with autism and other disabilities so they can lead full and meaningful lives.
Already, he said, the administration has plans of installing elevators in all train stations in the FCT to ease the movement of persons with disabilities in and around train terminals.
“The reality is that we need to publicise this and create awareness on autism. I am happy you have created a forum where parents can share ideas on the way forward. However, I assure you that the FCT will give you all the needed support and after this initial visit, the Senior Special Assistant on Health Matters, Dr Orji, and other members of the team will meet you for an expanded meeting to see what the issues are and how we can give support.”
While also calling on the centre to carry out more activities aside the annual autism awareness month, the minister stressed that, “I can assure you that I am going to be a very passionate advocate of what you do and I will continue to give you publicity.”
The Managing Director of Brain Bloom Centre, Hajiya Rahanatu Yusuf, while welcoming the minister to the centre, called for synergy between government and citizens in protecting the rights of neuro-divergent persons.
She noted that though Nigeria has a Disability Act, government agencies still need to do a lot to enforce them.
Yusuf said the Minister’s visit is part of the Autism-friendly events and educational activities billed to take place all month, aiming to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism, foster worldwide support and inspire a kinder, more inclusive world.
Speaking to The Abuja Inquirer on the sidelines of the event, Yusuf said, “Now more than ever, we need to come together to support each other, and remember our most vulnerable populations.
“We want to make autism awareness more center stage and topic of conversation which is why we are bringing this to the attention of the Honourable Minister who has the capacity to make impactful policies to achieve this herculean feat.”
Meanwhile, parents at the meeting decried the limited number of centres for diagnosing neurological disorder cases in Nigeria, warning that wrong diagnosis could further compound the challenges face by children with autism.
They say despite the rise in cases of invisible disabilities like autism, down syndrome, etc, Nigeria currently has less than three functional diagnostic centres for detecting and confirming children on the spectrum.
One of the parents, Fatima Zarau, also raised the alarm that the children’s rights to proper health care services are being denied them with exorbitant cost of medications especially that are hardly covered by the NHIS.
Zarau, therefore, called on government at all levels to offer some form of soft landing for parents of special needs children to ease their burden.
“We as parents of special needs children have a lot of demands. Government should meet us halfway because most of the interventions our children needs are very expensive. They say enroll for NHIS, but NHIS doesn’t cover the things are children need. For instance, drugs are not covered by NHIS, therapies are not covered, schools are not covered, so how does NHIS work for us? It’s not in our favour,” she lamented.
