‘One in 50 children autistic in Pakistan’

LAHORE
Speakers at an awareness seminar on autism raised the alarm, saying that according to recent statistics, one in every 50 children in Pakistan can be autistic while awareness among parents about the disease was virtually nil.
The seminar attended by parents and professionals including teachers, doctors, and therapists was organised by Autism Spectrum Disorders Resource Center. In her key note address, Dr. Shazia Maqbool, Head of Developmental Paediatrics at Children’s Hospital, Lahore, gave a detailed presentation on the Autism Spectrum Disorders. She stated that her Autism Unit was designed to cater for 3,000 children in a year, but now the Unit was catering for 30,000 children annually. There is a dire need to expand the facilities of the Developmental Paeds section on an urgent basis.
Rukhsana Shah, head of Autism Spectrum Disorders Resource Centre, said it was their mission to create a critical mass of trained teachers and care-givers and to create maximum awareness in the country. Mrs Mahvash Jahangir Siddiqui, Chairperson of MJS Foundation, said the foundation was striving to improve health, education and social outcomes in Pakistan through the establishment of additional facilities in existing public and private hospitals.