Mr Bright Appiah, Executive Director, Child Rights International, has pledged the Organization’s support for the two-year toddler mauled by a dog in Accra.
Mr Appiah said the assistance would depend on the final conclusion by the doctors on the kind of treatment the boy needed.
The two-year-old boy was attacked by a dog two weeks ago at Madina Warehouse.
The dog tore part of his anus, and the flesh around that area as well as the testicles, leaving the boy in critical condition.
A corrective surgery had been performed on the affected parts, but the stool had been diverted to the abdomen to allow for passage as well as the healing of the anus.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Appiah said his Organisation had taken keen interest in the case and wanted to hear the final conclusion from the professionals handling the situation, which would inform the right approach and the needed assistance.
“If there is the need for us to come in and provide assistance, be it legal, social or financial, why not, we will be in position to do that as an Organisation, but the most important thing is we want to hear from the professionals and if there is any need for us to support we will gladly do.
“It also depends on how bad the boy is injured and if we have to seek damages for the child, we will do that because taking care of the child medically is the first step that the child must go through and if we realise that the condition of the child will deny him certain capacity in the future then of course damages must be given to the child if the parents are willing to take that angle.
“We want to make that clear that the final report of the doctors will determine, if the child will not be able to perform certain duties in the future as a result of the attack and if he would will lose certain capacity to perform certain functions, we are ready to assist.”
The Executive Director said though the situation was a domestic accident, the welfare of the child was necessary and must be taken into consideration by the owner of the dog and the parents.
He expressed worry that the welfare of domestic staff had always been taken for granted, not having any form of social security protection.
“I am saying this because there are a lot of children between 14 and 17 years that are engaged in domestic work in Ghana without social security and health insurance to rely on, so it’s important for the State to look at these things to guarantee the safety of domestic workers,” he said.
Mr Appiah asked the government and labour to ensure that casual and domestic workers benefitted from Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) packages.
