Medical camp organized for physically disabled children in Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep 2 : A medical camp has been organized in Kashmir valley for the welfare of mentally disabled children.

Mission of the camp, MediFest, is to provide an opportunity to thousands of persons with intellectual disabilities to participate in Special Olympics, year-around sports training and athletic competitions.

Physical examination is necessary to register and participate in such competitions and with this aim Special Olympics Bharat organized medical screening under healthy athletes programme for the children with intellectual disabilities, in collaboration with special school in Srinagar where about 206 specially abled athletes are screened.

The social welfare minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sakina Itoo blamed militancy in Kashmir for rise in the number of such children.

"In our society there are many physically disabled children who are being ignored. Through this function, our motive is to bring them at the mainstream so that they can lead a healthy life like other children as from the last 10-15 years the rate of such disabled children have increased because of the militancy in Kashmir," said Sakina Itoo.

Large number of parents from different parts of the Valley came up enthusiastically with their children for check ups and examinations.

"The volunteers of this medical camp came to us and informed us that if we have any mentally disabled children in our family, then we can bring them here and they will conduct health check ups so that those parents who are not aware about their children's health disabilities can be well informed," said Shareef-Ud-Din, father of a disabled child.

For the last two decades, not even a single non-governmental organization organized such programmes for these children because of militancy in the State.

As the situation has improved, people feel that such programmes should be held in future too for the benefit of these children.