Collaboration key to fighting disabilities

Disability is a very complex issue and it requires collaborative efforts to fight it, said Saima Wazed Hossain, chairperson of Bangladesh National Advocacy Committee for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders yesterday.

Saima, also a member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advocacy Panel on Mental Health, was addressing as chief guest the launching ceremony of a project for children with special needs at ICDDR,B.

With the Unicef providing financial assistance, the ICDDR,B, Faith Bangladesh, and Shuchona Foundation are conducting the project titled “A Comprehensive Approach to Identify Children with Disabilities through Capacity Building of Government and NGO Health Workers and Disability Service Mapping in Bangladesh”.

The project targets early identification of children with special needs and strengthening the capability of related stakeholders as well as development of a referral association with proper service providers through service mapping. In many ways, it attempts to identify what the challenges are and how to reduce the vulnerabilities and build an inclusive community, said Saima, also the daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

With the project, they will also be able to identify what support the people with special needs require, who can help them and what resources will be needed, she added.

Saima said, "From 2011, I was knocking door to door to draw international attention for the country's neurodevelopmental issues and Unicef is now with us.”

Zillar Rahman, secretary, social welfare ministry, said Bangladesh has at least 15.1 lakh physically and neurologically challenged people and over two lakh of them are suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders.