Caxito - The national director of hospitals, Benedito Quinta, said, Monday, in northern Bengo province, that neurodevelopmental disorders are a public health problem that affects many Angolan families.
Speaking to the press at the opening of the neurodevelopment screening campaign, he said that the aim of the three-day campaign was to put neurodevelopment on the map of priorities for assistance programmes.
He hopes that the campaign will start to see neurodevelopmental disorders in the public healthcare network as an important area for assistance, with the need for specialised and appropriate clinical follow-up.
He also assured that the government has made an effort to train national staff with the skills to address the different health needs of the population affected by this disorder.
In turn, Line Duarte, a doctor specialising in neurodevelopment, said that the campaign would help to establish statistics on children with neurodevelopmental disorders, intervene and instruct families on procedures for children with speech, perception and other problems that occur in the first years of life.
The director-general of Bengo Hospital ‘Reverendo Guilherme Pereira Inglês’, Geovani João Malega, said that 32 health professionals are available, including doctors, nurses and various technicians.
He said that some of the cases screened in this campaign will be treated in January 2025.
Rosália Bandje, the aunt of a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder, praised the initiative, as it fulfils the cry for help from many families.
Neurodevelopmental disorders are disorders of neurodevelopment that impact on abilities related to memory, speech, social interaction and perception. MD/CJ/PA/DAN/DOJ
