No autism care in the country
In Sierra Leone, autism has been a fast growing and serious developmental disability for decades but lack of awareness, cultural mythology, socio-economic barriers and many other factors have led to autistic patients either being killed or abandoned by their families.
In terms of identifying and managing the disease, there are no government health facilities to host patients.
In an interview with the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Mr. Jonathan Abass Kamara, confirmed that there is indeed a high prevalence rate in the country of autistic patients; but that there is little or no awareness about them and support in the country for their treatment.
According to him, an average family spends within the range of Le 3 million annually to take care of such patients.
Cultural and traditional practices seriously impair awareness of autism in the country. A child born with autism to uneducated traditional parents is often described as evil creatures and should be abandoned in the sacred bush to die.
Thousands of autistic children have suffered such a fate across the country with the practice still existing in parts of the country.
According to the MOHS Pro, there is currently no plan by the Ministry to make provision for autistic care in government health facilities as there is no subvention for it, with government focused on more high profile health issues, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy, fistula, Ebola, etc.
With total disregard by the health authorities for this class of sufferers, health activists across the country are urging the government and the ministry of Health and Sanitation to focus attention on the disease, making provision for appropriate official intervention.
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