Madam Esther Korsah, a Health Communicator, says society must confront the stigma, misconceptions, and practices that continue to make life difficult and dangerous for children living with cerebral palsy and their families.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the occasion of the 2026 World Cerebral Palsy Day, she stated that society should challenge practices that endangered children with the cerebral palsy condition and give them a sense of belonging and affection to live dignified lives.
Madam Korsah said research involving mothers of children with cerebral palsy and healthcare providers had documented beliefs associating the condition with spiritual causes, family curses, and supernatural beings
She said: “Cerebral palsy is not witchcraft, punishment for a mother’s sins, or evidence that an ancestor offended the gods, and the child is not a river, snake or evil spirit who somehow found a way into a woman’s womb.
“Cerebral palsy is a medical condition, and behind that diagnosis is a human being who must be shown the love and respect like anyone else,” she said.
Madam Korsah, also a Project ECHO-certified Hepatitis and Harm Reduction Specialist, noted that though a child’s physical condition might create some limitation for them, society also multiplied those issues.
She said: “Cerebral palsy may affect a child’s ability to walk, it is society that builds a school they cannot enter, they may have difficulty speaking, it is society that decides they have nothing worthwhile to say, and a mother may need help caring for her child, it is society that stares at her in public and leaves her off the invitation list.”
She stated that while the government had enacted legislations to protect Persons with Disabilities, more efforts must be made to break barriers affecting their inclusivity in society.
“We need inclusive schools, accessible buildings and transport, better data, and real support for caregivers, particularly mothers who must abandon employment to care full-time,” Madam Korsah added.
She urged the public to avoid stigmatising children with the cerebral palsy condition, saying; “When you meet a child with cerebral palsy, do not stare and do not mock their movements, and not whisper about the mother, or ask what the family did to deserve such a child.
“Small acts of inclusion tells a family something powerful that they belong here,” she added
World Cerebral Palsy Day is observed on October 06 every year to show solidarity and support to people with the condition, with the global theme for this year as: “Unique and United.”
