While India is yet to frame guidelines on Cerebral Palsy (CP) — caused due to damage in brain — to improve diagnosis and treatment across the States, experts say that it can take a cue from United Kingdom which has recently released protocols detailing standards of care for people with such disability.
Caused due to brain damage by injury or abnormal development of the brain, CP is the most common cause of physical disability in children and young people across the countries. In UK it is estimated that 2 in 1,000 babies are born with cerebral palsy, in India the ratio is 4-6: 1,000 children.
Senior paediatrician physiotherapist from Delhi, Dr Mansoor Alam said that such patients suffer from problems like speech problem, mental retardation, deafness, visual defect, perceptual problems, and convulsive disorder.
He said that India can follow the guidelines on CP issued by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). He said that early recognition, intervention and services for children suffering with CP are the need of hour.
The NICE guideline focuses on the causes and treatment of the disease and the most common co-morbidities — or simultaneous conditions — such as saliva control, pain, mental health, and communication issues.
Recommendations include: recognising that parents and familiar carers have a key role in recognising and assessing pain, discomfort and distress in children and young people with cerebral palsy and that all children with delayed motor milestones should be referred to a child development service for further assessment.
Dr Alam added that Canada and USA too have been doing pioneer service for the welfare in the field of CP in their respective countries.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), 10 per cent of the global population suffers from some form of disability, in India, it is 3.8 per cent of the population.
To ensure holistic treatment and early disagnosis of the physical and mental disability, various startups are foraying into the sector. For instance, Dr Alam is pioneering a start-up with a unique concept where complete rehabilitation of the patients is taken care under one roof — Delmira Rehabilitation Services.
By providing consistent treatment and ensuring regular monitoring, the startup would ensure affordable services and help cut medical treatment costs by about 30 per cent, said Ametesh Khare, Executive Director, Delmira Rehabilitation Services.
Besides CP, the firm also aims to provide solution for plethora of disorders such as autism, bells palsy, back pain, frozen shoulder and the like. To ensure that its professionals on its board are regularly abreast of latest technology, we have also launched a skill transfer program bringing 35 specialist doctors like neurologists, physiotherapists and rehabilitation experts together on one platform, Khare added.