The world’s renowned personalities will gather in Dhaka on July 25 to participate in a two-day regional conference to raise awareness on autism.
Titled “Autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities in Bangladesh and South Asia”, the conference will be organised jointly by the Centre for Neurodevelopment and Autism in Children of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and US-based Autism Speaks.
World Health Organisation (WHO) is supporting the programme.
Sonia Gandhi, president of Indian Congress Party and main advisory of Action for Autism in India, is scheduled to attend the conference as the chief guest.
Joining the event as special guests are Second Lady of the Maldives Ilham Hussain, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Fehmida Mirza, First Lady of Sri Lanka Shiranthi Rajapaksa, and the health minister of Bhutan.
Saima Wazed Putul, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is convening the conference to be followed by a three-day training workshop, said BSMMU Vice Chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta at a press conference at the city’s Milton Hall yesterday.
A pre-conference training for the psychology students of Dhaka University will also be held on July 23.
The ministries of health, foreign affairs, social welfare, and education will coordinate the programme.
Prof Datta said 52 specialists from 12 countries will participate in the conference to be inaugurated in Ruposhi Bangla Hotel. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque will attend the inaugural session.
Sessions of the training workshop scheduled for July 27-29 will be held in different auditoriums of BSMMU. Some 370 participants including parents of autistic children, therapists, psychologists, and teachers and students of psychology from across the country will join the workshop.
“Foreign experts will provide the training”, said Dr Muzharul Mannan of Centre for Neurodevelopment and Autism in Children. “As Bangladesh is still lagging behind in handling autism, the training would facilitate identifying the signs of autism and its severity and offer how to handle an autistic child, how to teach them etc”, he said.
Social Welfare Secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas, Health Joint Secretary Shafikur Rahman Laskar and Paban Chowdhury of Prime Minister’s Officer also spoke at yesterday’s conference.
Autism is a complex developmental disability involving a biological or organic defect in the functioning of the brain.
An estimated 1.5 million individuals in the US and tens of millions worldwide are affected by autism. It affects 1 in every 110 children globally, which is higher than the children being affected with HIV/AIDS or Leukemia, according to experts.
Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism. There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but it can be controlled and improved through early diagnosis, treatment, therapy, treatment, and proper teaching, they said.
The number of autistic children in Bangladesh is yet to be known as no survey was conducted. The Centre for Neurodevelopment and Autism in Children, however, started an epidemiological study in this regard, said the BSMMU authorities.
-With The Daily Star input
