As preparations get underway for Antigua and Barbuda to celebrate World
Down Syndrome Day calls have come from medical officials and parents
affected for more to be done.
On March 21st, colourful socks will be the order of the day in the streets and
offices of Antigua and Barbuda as the world stops to commemorate World
Down Syndrome Day under the theme ‘End the Stereotypes’.
According to Dr Shivon Belle-Jarvis while there has been lots of progress in
bringing awareness to this disease there is still much to be done in terms of the
offering of services for those affected.
One parent, who has a son affected by the disease is calling on the government
to do more.
“Have more speech therapy available. Have more occupational therapy
available for us as parents so we can better know how to handle our children.
Let better awareness be the forefront. Speak about it more often. Don’t just let it
be that when March 21 comes around that we do but it be spoken about year-
round. Teach other children to be acceptable of children with down syndrome,”
the mother said.
For people with Down syndrome and intellectual disabilities, stereotypes can
stop them from being treated like other people. They get treated like children,
they are underestimated and often times excluded.
A point Dr Belle-Jarvis says needs to be addressed.
One such area she thinks can help improve and prepare parents for dealing with
these matters is specialized screening.
According to the top medical official, most parents here only find out after birth
about their children’s conditions and sometimes dealing with this news becomes
difficult.
“I would want to see the availability of screening testing and screening be more
readily available and more financially available. Nine hundred US is now easy
to just take up right now,” Dr. Belle-Jarvis added.
World Down Syndrome Day has been observed each year on March 21, since
2006.
International statistics say that around one in every 800 babies will be born with
Down Syndrome – a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome –
and which has no known cause.
In 2022, Antigua and Barbuda had one baby born with the condition out of 931
live births.
Those figures did however increase in 2023 and saw three Down syndrome
births.
A number Dr. Belle-Jarvis says is not a cause for concern but will be watched
closely.
