Health authorities are committed to ensure children with disabilities have access to efficient therapy, a ministry spokesman said.
“The Inspire Parents’ Forum called on the government to take action to ensure children like theirs have access to efficient therapy, which may not necessarily be through Inspire. The ministry is engaged in determining the way forward to doing so,” the spokesman said.
Earlier this month, parents of five children who use Inspire’s services wrote an open letter to the Health Minister calling on the government to provide effective and continuous therapy by funding services offered by NGOs, like Inspire.
They said therapeutic services offered by the government’s Child Development and Assessment Unit (CDAU) were inadequate, so they had no choice but to resort to Inspire.
However, Inspire is being forced to cut down some of its precious services – including speech and occupational therapy and physiotherapy – because of a lack of funds.
The parents, who are members of the Inspire Parents’ Forum, called on the government to take action to ensure children like theirs have access to efficient therapy.
Given the state’s limited resources and to avoid duplication of services, they suggested the government should restore funding to Inspire and work in partnership with the non-profit organisation, or other NGOs.
Asked for a reaction, a government spokesman said the Health Ministry was “seriously exploring how to address the challenges being faced at CDAU in the most effective manner”.
“The possibility of seeking the contribution of various NGOs, such as Inspire, to support the work that CDAU is seeking to do, is one of the pathways being explored...
“The ministry acknowledges the valuable work done by various NGOs, and strives for the mutual support across the ministry and the respective NGOs involved in all health sectors, but stands by the contention that it, as a ministry, is independent of the NGOs and their respective management structures, staffing levels, management of finances, projects, programmes and initiatives,” the spokesman said.
The priority of the ministry lay with securing the provision of efficient and effective care to all, which may not necessarily comprise the direct funding of projects, programmes and initiatives provided by relevant NGOs.