Cerebral palsy leading cause of disability, medics say

Cerebral palsy is the leading cause of disability among children in Nakuru County, according to statistics from the Naivasha County Hospital.

Speaking during a cancer palliative care meeting at the hospital, the officer in charge of the Occupational Therapy Department Mwangi Mahinda, said that three out of four patients who seek services from the department suffer from cerebral palsy.

“Cerebral palsy among minors is one of the leading causes of disability in Naivasha and, therefore, there is need to put more efforts and capacity in addressing this situation,” he said.

He said containing the disease has always been a challenge.

“In 2015, while attending to 210 minors who were suffering from the body condition, we faced many challenges mainly due to staff shortage in nearly all the health facilities in the region.”

The director of public health in the county, Dr. Joseph Lenai, also admitted that staff shortage was a major challenge that nearly all health facilities face.

He called for a technical working committee involving various stakeholders to be formed to look into challenges faced in addressing the health condition.

“We are asking the county assembly to come up with a bill on the non-communicable disease to address the high burden and funds needed in treating the rising cases,” he said.

Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term that refers to a group of disorders which affects a person’s ability to move.

It is caused by damage to the developing brain either during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

Some of the ways that the disease affects patients are through body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture, and balance.