UNICEF will approach the West Bengal government to establish more neurodevelopmental clinics for children across the state, an official confirmed on Tuesday. These clinics, which provide vital services for children under three years old, are currently operating at SSKM Hospital in Kolkata and in 17 of the state’s 28 health districts.
Monjur Hossain, Chief of UNICEF in West Bengal, highlighted the positive response from parents, communities, and state health officials. “In line with our strategic cooperation approaches, this local-level knowledge and evidence created would be used for policy advocacy and leveraging of resources with the government,” Hossain said.
UNICEF, in collaboration with Nanritam, an organisation specialising in developmental pediatrics, has already supported the government in running ECD clinics in South 24-Parganas‘ Budge Budge-II and Bishnupur-II blocks. Due to the overwhelming response from parents, this model of care will now be expanded to Canning-II and Jaynagar-I blocks. Dr. Muktisadhan Maiti, the Chief Medical Officer of Health for South 24-Parganas, emphasised the significance of these clinics, stating, “Earlier, the children who needed special care were sent to SSKM Hospital, but now they are being taken care of at the ECD clinics.”
Under the new model, frontline workers are trained to identify children in need of special care, and parents are taught how to make age-appropriate toys from household materials. “The clinics are equipped with special kits, toys, paediatricians, physiotherapists, special educators, psychologists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists,” said Dr. Nandita Chattopadhyay, Director of Nanritam.
Dr. Swati Pramanick, Deputy CMOH-III of South 24-Parganas, confirmed that the proposed ECD clinics would be supervised by doctors and provide basic treatment, with specialized services available at SSKM Hospital.
