Centre for autistic children launched

Islamabad : Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Abdul Qadir Patel on Thursday inaugurated the state-of-the-art National Autism and Mental Health Centre for autistic children at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).

Addressing the ceremony, the minister said that the government has established this country’s first public sector National Autism and Mental Health Centre for children in the federal capital to serve the patients, who were earlier facing a shortage of such services. He said that this will be the first centre in the country of such high quality.

He added that in the first phase, the centre will offer diagnostic and treatment facilities at centre’s out-patients department (OPD).

He said that the patients will also avail free medical advises on various aspects of the disease, including diagnostic and treatment management at the centre.

He said that an estimated 0.4 million people in the country are Autism patients.

He added the major issue in Pakistan is diagnosing of the disease as there are reports of wrong diagnose of the disease. He said that the issues related to the treatment and availability of facilities are also being faced by patients in Pakistan.

He added that this is major progress in the health sector as the government is committed to serve the people of Pakistan. He said that the present government was focusing on its health reform agenda to make a positive change in the health sector and improving the standard of the health service delivery system.