Editorial
Parents must support their children with special needs
Overcoming stigmatisation at all levels in society is one campaign almost every civil society organisation is tackling.
From menstrual hygiene, breast cancer, HIV/AIDS to crime-related stigma; these organisations have gone to extreme lengths to create awareness to make it easier for victims to be accepted in the society.
It is, therefore, strange to read about a call on parents that takes their children with special needs to Special or Care Homes to be catered for and eventually, abandon them.
That is wickedness at the highest level.
According to a report published by this paper, some parents and guardians have turned these special schools into ‘dumping grounds’ where they take their wards and leave them to their fate.
These parents refuse to visit the children for the period they stay at the facility and care less about their state of health.
The worse of all is that such parents would not even attend meeting of parents to discuss the welfare of these children that needs the support of their parents to survive.
The Spectator finds the situation very offensive and unacceptable considering the fact that these children have no hand in their formation and did nothing to contribute to their present form.
The timing also make it very startling because of the several campaigns on this social canker called stigmatisation.
The truth is, we have gone past the era where a certain level of stigmatisation was allowed because the mode of transmission of certain diseases were actually not clear.
In this era, there is information everywhere on how people who had been released from detentions, people who have recovered from certain sicknesses etc should be integrated into society.
So, having overcome some challenges, The Spectator wonders why parents in this age would ‘dump’ their wards somewhere.
This paper, therefore, affirms the call on such parents to rather encourage their special children so that their talents can be harnessed
Editorial
Kudos to Ho Teaching Hospital staff, but …
Dear Editor,
If there is any group of professionals that get bad-mouthed the most, then you are referring to nurses and medical doctors assigned to public hospitals across the country.
For this particular letter, I want to sing the praises of this same group of professionals that work at the Ho Teaching Hospital, famously known as Trafalgar.
Despite the work load and the mass casualties received at the emergency ward of the hospital, the welcoming nature of the nurses and the professional touch by the doctors can’t be ignored. My personal experience has got me travelling from my base in Accra to seek medical services from these professionals.
Special mention has to be made of the likes of Precious of the Pharmacy Department, Dr Brandon Banor (a maxillofacial resident) of the Dental unit, male nurse Justice assigned to the female surgical ward. Words cannot really do justice to their affable, professional caring nature. A simple thank you is all that I can say.
In the same vein, I can’t but call out the bad attitude of the auxiliary staff and contractors of the hospital.
Chief among them is some of the contracted bank staff that handle the payment section of the hospital and the patient registration section (those that check the status of the patient as to whether they are fee paying patients or NHIS sponsored).
The attitude at times leaves a bad taste in the mouth. One such occurrence was a night staff of the registration section who had her legs on the office table whilst talking to patients.
The CEO of the hospital needs to shine his torch light on this support sections before they erode the awesome performance of the direct medical staff of the hospital.
Thank you for the space.
Kwesi Manu
Accra
Editorial
Develop policies to address disability concerns
Dear Editor,
AT the beginning of the year, when I went to the bank to deposit money into my uncle’s account, I observed a very sad situation where a man in a wheelchair struggled to navigate his way around the facility.
This is because the structure is disability unfriendly.
As I stood and watched how the man struggled to move his wheelchair, I felt sad and wondered if this is how the life of a disabled person should be. It becomes worse if there is no one to offer help.
In Ghana, People With Disabilities (PWDs) are often treated differently and are often subjected to all forms of discrimination.
Most of these people find themselves in such a situation as a result of unfortunate happenings such as accidents and injuries.
It is, therefore, not appropriate for anyone to discriminate against them. Discrimination against such persons take many forms, including how buildings are constructed.
Most of the public structures are not disability friendly and impede their movement.
As a country, we should consider the PWDs in designing our structures. I also think that there should be a national policy that seeks to address this issue.
I have a strong conviction that when such a policy is developed by the government, people with disabilities would feel appreciated and also promote social inclusivity.
Ray,
Kasoa
