Surgeon and Neurosurgery resident at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Dickson Bandoh has explained that parents of children with the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus conditions are the best doctors for the treatment of this conditions in their children.
According to him, it takes the parents’ for children suffering from these conditions to receive the right treatment.
Speaking on the Special edition of the African Women’s Voices Show on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day, the surgeon revealed that some parents have had the first inclination to receive “spiritual healing” of these conditions only to be disappointed and for the condition to become even worse than it was.
“We have quite a number of patients who will rather opt for alternative treatment and then when they realized this doesn’t work, it then becomes a bit too late to help,” he told Eunice Tornyi on the African Women’s Voices show.
Based on this occurrence, he advised: “The only way for managing these conditions is through surgery. There is really no other way to reduce the size of the child’s head if he or she has hydrocephalus.
The parents are the best doctors for the management of these conditions and not even the trained doctors. This is because the parents will have to make a decision to send the children to the hospital. The parents will have to make a decision to accept our treatment. The parent will have to make a decision to follow up with the treatment we give them.”
He added that it is a concern if there is no active parent to help the child go for the treatment for these conditions.
The World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day is commemorated every 25th October to raise awareness and understanding about Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. On this day, the rights of persons with these conditions are advocated and promoted.
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Unlock Your Rights to Health”.