By Kabuye Ronald
Parents with disabled Children in Kasengejje, Wakiso district, have welcomed Berakhah Medical facility which has been established with a purpose of extending health services to Children with Special needs as well as their care takers.
The facility will provide Community based health services beside being a sensitization center for parents as one of the measures to reduce on a number of children born with disabilities in the country which are avoidable.
At the official opening of Berakhah Medical Center under Special needs Children Trust , Wakiso District Health Officer (DHO) in his message read by Lukanga Dickson the in charge of Wakiso Health Center IV noted that the District has many children who need special attention but they have been lacking a well-established facility in the area.
“We as the district, we are glad that our people are going to have regular sensitization programs which will reduce on the number of children born with various health complications as well as equipping parents with knowledge on how to handle Children with disability.”
He applauded the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) like Mukisa Foundation for complimenting Government’s role of extending health services closer to the communities.
Florence Namaganda the founder of Special Children Trust and Mukisa Foundation revealed that they come up with the center after considering the many numbers of special needs children who are in need of high quality medical services but couldn’t access them due to financial challenges in addition to other issues.
“We have been in this field of handling children with disability for over 15 years and we have noted that some cases can be prevented if mothers are guided well during pregnancy and after giving birth.”
“For some disabled Children if they receive medical attention at an early stage, their condition can be controlled or stabilized in additional to equipping them with skills to sustain themselves as individually without seeking for help elsewhere.”
She further noted that at the start, they had concentrated on only the disabled Children but later they realized the need of engaging the care takers who trek long distances looking for better medical services
Some of the parents and guardians of children with disabilities and residents of Kasengejje welcomed this initiative saying that it will reduce on the cases of abandoned children since many people abandon them out of ignorance.
The center will also equip parents especially those with special needs children with skills through which they can produce products that will improve on their source of income.
