All should tackle burden of advocating for the rights of PWDs, Ksm woman rep says

Hellen Tuli who is in charge of Gender and Children Affairs at the office of Kisumu County Woman Representative addressing pupils and stakeholders today during the World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day held at Joyland Special School in Kisumu-Story and Photo By Dickson Odhiambo

October 25, 2022

All should tackle burden of advocating for the rights of PWDs, Ksm woman rep says

THE Burden of advocating for the rights of Persons with Disabilities should never be left for only one institution, Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has said.

Odinga says all the stakeholders should advocate for the rights of People with Disabilities across the country without leaving it for only an institution.

In a speech read on her behalf by Hellen Tuli who is in charge of Gender and Children Affairs at the office of Kisumu County Woman Representative today during the World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day held at Joyland Special School in Kisumu, Odinga said a lot can be achieved towards addressing the issues affecting persons with disabilities if all the stakeholders work together.

Odinga says stigmatization is still a challenge in addressing issues affecting persons with disability, adding that due to ignorance and some unbecoming myths, the community has undignified persons with disability.

Odinga says she is fully committed in ensuring that sensitization of the public on the importance of inclusion is carried among members of the community.

World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day is normally celebrated on October 25 every year.

This year is the tenth Edition of the World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day.

Spina bifida is a birth defect that occurs when the spine and the spinal cord don’t form properly and it is a type of neural tube defect.

It occurs during the third and fourth weeks of pregnancy when a portion of the fetal spinal cord fails to properly close.

As a result of this, the child is born with a part of spinal cord exposed on the back.

The open spina bifida is strongly associated with hydrocephalus.

Hydrocephalus is caused by an imbalance between how much cerebrospinal fluid is produced and how much is absorbed into the blood stream.

The Cerebrospinal fluid {CSF} is produced by tissues lining the ventricles of the brain and it flows through it by way of interconnecting channels.

 Many Babies born with Spina Bifida get hydrocephalus which is a condition characterized by having extra fluid in an around the brain.

This extra fluid can cause the spaces in the brain known as ventricles to become too large and the head can swell.

Although there are a number of causes of infantile hydrocephalus, the condition is mostly associated with congenital anomalies spina bifida and aqueductal stenosis.