Participants at the end of a two-day conference on cerebral palsy has called on government to create inclusive community early childhood day care centre which will admit children with cerebral palsy.
A communiqué issued at the end of the conference also urged government to enhance the human resource capacity of professionals working with persons with cerebral palsy.
The conference on the theme: “Inclusion Matters: Count in Children with Cerebral Palsy” funded by Cerebral Palsy Africa and Liliane Foundation and facilitated by SWEB Foundation a Ghanaian based non-governmental organization assembled health professionals, educationists, government officials and parents of children with cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that affects movement and sometimes speech of children.
The communiqué also urged government to prioritize the early identification and intervention strategies of cerebral palsy and Community based Rehabilitation graduates to help bridge the gap between care-givers and health professionals.
Participants, however, commended government for the adoption of the inclusive education policy and an attempt by stakeholders to implement the provision in the document.
They also commended the existence of training programmes for rehabilitation professionals like physiotherapists, occupational therapists, audiologists, and speech and language therapists among others.
The communiqué called for better collaboration between non-governmental organizations and programmes run by government.