Friday, November 07, 2014 | 7:36 AM
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of Youth and Culture has joined with the Ministry of Health to provide medical assistance for wards of the state with disabilities.
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| Lisa Hanna |
Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna says that children in state care particularly those with severe disabilities, are abandoned by their parents, because they cannot afford the cost of adequate care and treatment.
Doctors now visit the children’s homes, write prescriptions, and compile files. Medication is sourced through the Ministry of Health for severe cases.
“Many of these children remain in the homes from birth until they die because they have no one to come back for them…oftentimes the parents leave them, because the medication for a child with epilepsy or cerebral palsy or extreme autism is so expensive that they are not able to give it to them to put them in a state where you can work with them,” Hanna said.
She argued that children with disabilities should be seen as a gift, rather than a curse, and is encouraging Jamaicans to volunteer at children’s homes to assist in their care, as well as that of other wards.
“Work with the caregivers because it is not easy, especially in an environment where the rest of society still has a disdain when you bring a child forward, who is very different,” the minister noted. more
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