Maryam launches initiative for students with autism in Punjab

LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced significant initiatives for children with autism, including establishment of autism centres in 27 divisional public schools across the province.

These centres aim to provide specialised education, training and rehabilitation for children with autism.

Extending Eid greetings to children with autism on the eve of World Autism Awareness Day, the CM reaffirmed her commitment to their well-being. She stated that children with autism are not patients but special individuals, and for the first time in Punjab, special education has been placed among the government’s top priorities. She also highlighted ongoing efforts to introduce employment programmes alongside the ‘Rising Star Card’ for special children.

Maryam Nawaz said that Pakistan’s first government autism school was nearing completion in Lahore, where early autism diagnosis services would be offered in the first phase. She stressed that diagnosing autism at an early age, around three years old, significantly improves treatment outcomes.

As part of the government’s initiatives, 40,000 children across Punjab received Eid gift packs for the first time.

Separately, CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif lauded the unprecedented achievement of performing over 3,000 children’s heart surgeries in just six months under the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme.

During a briefing, authorities informed the CM that a team of British doctors recently performed heart surgeries at the Faisalabad Cardiology Institute. They reported that 7,436 child patients from across Pakistan have been registered under the programme. Of these, Punjab is providing free heart surgeries to 316 children from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 51 from Sindh, 11 from Balochistan, 158 from Azad Kashmir, and 30 from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Authorities further apprised the CM that 2,419 surgeries have been successfully conducted in government hospitals, while 743 procedures were carried out in private hospitals under the programme.

Also, CM Maryam Nawaz ordered the authorities concerned to ensure that passengers returning after the Eid holidays are charged fixed fares, warning of strict action against transporters engaging in overcharging.