Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has appealed to the public to end the stigma against children with autism in the country.
He said children with autism needed the support and affection of the public but the country had not done enough to support children with such special needs.
Vice President Bawumia said this when he joined the children at Autism Awareness Centre at Kokomlemle in Accra to celebrate his 56th birthday which fell yesterday.
The Vice President, who was in the company with Rev Father Andrew Campbell, a Catholic Priest, ministers of state, and some top government officials, presented gifts to the children and cut a cake with them.
He also presented 25 bags of rice, five cartons of oil, and an amount of GH¢20,000 to the Autism Awareness Centre.
Vice President Bawumia pledged to call a meeting with all stakeholders involved in taking care of children with autism to discuss how best the government could support them.
“The government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to focusing on the vulnerable and excluded in the country,” he said.
The Vice President urged the public to support facilities taking care of children with autism “to ensure that we live in an all-inclusive society”.
The Director of the Centre, Ms Serwaa Quaynor, appealed to the public to assist such institutions to take care of the vulnerable.
“We need support to take care of children living with autism,” he said, and urged the government to also develop a policy to support such children.
Earlier, the Vice President was at the Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital at the Central Business District in Accra to celebrate the day with the children in the hospital.
There, he presented gifts to the children at the hospital and cut a cake with them.
BY YAW KYEI
