Grand Challenges Canada, GCC, is set to provide free diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders for Nigerian children under the age of 3 years.
The project, which is being led by Dr. Muideen Owolabi Bakare of Child and Adolescent Unit, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, will last for two years.
Addressing journalists in Enugu on Sunday, Bakare said the project, which will take off in Lagos, will spread to all the states in the country.
He disclosed that the Grand Challenges Canada “is supporting Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorders Initiative, CNDI, in collaboration with Child and Adolescent Centre of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba Lagos and University Centre for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, of the Havard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA”.
Bakare further disclosed that the project which focuses on early diagnosis and interventions for childhood neurodevelopmental disorders “will improve diagnosis and treatment of childhood neurodevelopmental disorders before the age of three years, reducing associated social stigma in Nigeria”.
“Late identification and interventions for childhood neurodevelopmental disorders often lead to lack of access to educational opportunity in affected children and impaired expressive language ability.
“The project will incorporate routine surveillance and screening for childhood neurodevelopmental disorders into the well established National Programme on Immunization, NPI, in Nigeria.
“It will impact positively on global mental health of Nigerian children”, he added.
Grand Challenges Canada is funded by the Government of Canada and supports bold ideas with big impact in global health.
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