Care givers and people with disabilities have urged both the national and county governments to hire more physio and occupational therapists not only for medical facilities but also in special schools.
Gladys Kipkosgey, a mother to a seven-year-old child with cerebral palsy said there were only three occupational therapists who offer services to patients at the Iten County Referral Hospital (ICRH) which she said were not enough to deal with the increasing number of people requiring the services.
Ms. Kosgey added that the hospital doesn’t have all the necessary equipment adding that the room used for the services is so small leading to overcrowding which affects the health of the patients who often get infected by various diseases due to their low immunity.
The coordinator rehabilitative services at ICRH Dr Margaret Chirchir said there were only 6 physio therapists and 3 occupational therapists who are all based in Iten forcing anyone requiring the services to travel all the way to Iten which can be a challenge depending on their condition.
“We are therefore appealing to the county government to hire more experts to be deployed in all health facilities to save them the challenge of travelling long distances to seek services,” she said.
The medic said the county to date does not have a department for physio therapy and therefore they are always being moved from one place to another.
They were speaking at the Iten CDF hall to celebrate the National Council for People with Disability 20 years of diversity and inclusion in Kenya.
Jacob Too, a teacher at Bugar special school for the intellectually challenged said while the government has made strides in hiring teachers, there was need to ensure that all special schools have a multi-disciplinary team involving occupational therapists, nurses and counsellors among others to cater to the various needs of the learners.
Too commended the government for ensuring that the CBC curriculum is well implemented in special schools, with the learners having to go through the stage based pathway but said there was a challenge in ensuring there was a clear exit programme for the learners once they are out of school.
“We are able to identify their talents and they are even supported to start income generating activities through NCPWD. As teachers we are expected to supervise them at their homes to ensure that they are doing well in their business but we are not able due to lack of facilitation,” he said.
Zephaniah Wendot from Chesoi special school called on the government to consider establishing a special secondary and Tvet institution to cater to the needs of special learners saying currently there are no such institutions in the county.
The county disability coordinator Lydia Matende said the government was improving services offered to PWDs saying they no longer need to travel to Nairobi for medical assessment saying they can access the same at the ITRH.
Ms Kipkosgey said while it is a government policy that 5% of employment opportunities should go to PWD’s they should also consider extending the same to caregivers to enable them take care of the children.
By Alice Wanjiru
