Stop Ill-treating Children With Life Limiting Illnesses; Hospital Is The Answer-CPC

Children’s Palliative Care (CPC) says cases of ill-treatment of children suffering from life limiting illnesses are growing rapidly every passing day in most communities across the country a situation is fueling deterioration in the condition of many little patients.

According to Jean Tauzie CPC Project Coordinator such abuses are being done by both members of communities, parents and guardians of children living with life limiting illnesses. She said some of the reports being received by the organization include reports of discrimination and several forms of abuse, of which some of them are very shocking. 

She said children suffering from life limiting illness like HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Epilepsy and other disabilities are among the most group facing such acts of human rights violation in most communities.

She confirmed that CPC has been receiving information from guardian’s and parents who are caring for children living with life limiting illnesses that “their children are being discriminated in the communities because of villages myths, that for the child to be disabled means the dad or mum of that child did something else.”

Tauzie also mentioned that such abuses are not only being done by the community members but also parents and guardians, she said “And very often times, these children are just locked up in the houses or tethered to a tree for a whole day.”

While denouncing these shocking abuses and pleading with communities and guardians to stop this malpractice Tauzie said, “These children are also people, they are children like any other child, and they have their own rights to health, and right to life like any normal child.”

“So what we are advising them (communities and parents) is, whenever there is a child who is disabled, or is having life limiting illnesses the best way is to refer that child to the nearest clinic for support” pleaded Tauzie

She explained “Palliative care is a holistic approach we look at a child or a person as a whole which can be physical, psychological or spiritual and social. So looking at discrimination might be on the social aspect but also psychological so all these services it’s not only about the physical component we can help the guardians event the child on the social, psychological and the spiritual part of it for the quality life of that child”

The CPC Project Coordinator also made an assurance that the organization is intensifying efforts in raising awareness of consequences of such practice on the health of the patient and existence of free palliative care service in all hospitals which support children living with life threatening diseases to live a normal life like just like any child in the community.

Palliative Care Association of Malawi (PACAM) through funding from DFID is implementing Children’s Palliative Care (CPC) services at Zomba, Mzuzu and Kamuzu central hospitals with the aim of improving quality of life for those children living with life limiting illnesses.