Invest in Cerebral Palsy treatment now!- Experts plead

Health experts have called for greater investment in rehabilitation services and public awareness to improve the lives of children living with cerebral palsy in Malawi.

The call was made at an event held at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, as the country joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Cerebral Palsy Day, observed on October 6, under the theme ‘Unique and United’.

Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that affects brain development in children under five and remains one of the most common childhood disabilities in Malawi.

A Physiotherapy Lecturer at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, KUHeS, and guest of honour, Anderson Mughogho, says limited resources and inadequate specialist personnel continue to hinder access to quality physiotherapy and rehabilitation care for affected children.

He said: “You have about less than 500 physiotherapists in the country, of 20 million, and then you have less than 300 occupational therapists, and you have less than 500 rehabilitation technicians.

All the resources, human resources, are not enough. But also, when it comes to the disabilities that these children have, they need a lot of assistive devices.”

Mughogho also emphasized the need for stronger collaboration between the government and development partners to build capacity and raise awareness about the condition.

Blessings Bande, the chairperson of the organizing committee of the commemoration, concurs with Mughogho saying: “Statistics shows that at least in every thousand births, one to three children are born with this condition. So it shows that it is very prevalent. I think for now there’s been an improvement because there’s been an improvement in, we’ve improved area identification.”

Bande said early referral and improved health-seeking behavior among Malawians are helping to enhance the quality of care for children born with cerebral palsy.

“Many children were brought to hospitals as late as age three, by which time much of their physical function had already deteriorated, limiting the effectiveness of treatment.

But now they’re able to come in when the child is just born because of good referral systems and the improvement in health-seeking behaviors from Malawians. So in that way, we’re able to actually provide the best of care,” Bande said.

Rose John from Chirimba in Mwachande Village, Blantyre, told Capital FM website that her last-born child had the condition. The mother of four said, “When my child was born with the condition, we quickly sought interventions from medical officials who enrolled him in physiotherapy sessions.

There is so much improvement now, and now he can attend school.”

A total of 955 children were screened (December 2023–June 2024), and of these, 577 were registered. Most children were around the age of 5 years 4 months at the time of registration and were predominantly male (59.9%).

CP affecting both lower and upper limbs was common (46.3%), with the majority (91.8%) either being able to move using either walkers or wheelchairs, as well as those who had limited mobility requiring full assistance. Almost 2 out of every 1000 children in this rural district had CP.