Covid 19 came like the world was going to end yet we learned to live with it. We were told contact with one infected person could result in multiple deaths yet we braced up and insisted ‘there mustn’t be sigma’!
When I say ‘Down syndrome is not a disease it is not a religious statement but one backed by evidence. I mean I’m AN EVIDENCE! I’m hardly ever ill, neither have I succeeded in infecting anyone especially babies whom I love so much!
According to the National Down syndrome Society (ndss), ‘Down syndrome is a condition or a syndrome, not a disease. People โhaveโ Down syndrome, they do not โsuffer fromโ it and are not โafflicted byโ it.
Babies with DS may come with holes in their hearts or congenital heart disease. This requires surgery which cost millions of Naira. It also requires periodic management which most families cannot afford.
In most parts of the world, the government pays for these surgeries but sadly, you find families immediately turn into beggars in Nigeria as a result of desperation to preserve the life of the child. Speech impairment is a major concern. While some persons with DS may never speak others may if the right speech pathologists are engaged.
The problem again is the high cost and more worrisome the availability of proficient pathologists. If you’re reading this and you have the condition of a child with it, please do not let the number ’21’ steal your joy.
In all, let’s not over flog this matter, I AM NOT A DISEASE but a glorious image of my maker (God please give my readers eyes to see and hearts to receive this information