President of the Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi on Monday praised Bangladesh’s success in reducing fertility rates, underweight children, infant mortality and increasing immunisation, school enrolment, and life expectancy and said Bangladesh is ahead of India in these sectors.
“Bangladesh has achieved economic and social success beyond anything thought possible at the time of its birth,” said Gandhi, who is also the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council of India. Gandhi was the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of “Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Disabilities in Bangladesh and South Asia” conference in Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.
“You are admired worldwide for your path-breaking innovations in micro-finance, education, women’s empowerment, public health and sanitation,” she said, adding “You are ahead of us in the development sector.”
“We share passions too — for the poetic and artistic legacy of figures like Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam, to the sublime Ilish Maachh and Misti Doi,” she said, prompting cheers from the audience.
“Our two countries share another link; we have confounded out prophets of doom,” Sonia Gandhi said.
She termed the conference a landmark journey that will help raise awareness, improve early diagnosis, expand the range of services and facilities for persons with autism.
She also highlighted the need for advocacy, research and training as immediate priorities.
Terming autism a complex, lifelong developmental disability that severely impairs social and communication skills, Gandhi, the chief patron of Action Autism said, “It is unfortunate that in South Asian societies generally, the disabled do not command the empathy they deserve.”
She said limited public awareness prevails in the region because autistic people do not always appear to be disabled in the conventional sense, and that developing countries need to adopt proven interventions to improve their plight.
She highlighted the fact that many people with autism are exceptionally talented and if given the right support, can go on to lead normal and productive lives.
After describing the contributions made by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation to improve diagnosis and treatment through the training of pediatricians, she urged civil society to play a role in reshaping opinions and providing quality care and services.
Gandhi concluded that there is a need to empower parents with autistic children, as well as autistic adolescents and adults, who are often even more neglected.
Addressing the inaugural session of the conference, Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister, also stressed the need to establish the rights of people with disabilities in developing countries.
“It is necessary to create social and legal frameworks and infrastructure to mitigate the sufferings of people with mental health issues. We must protect their rights and promote their causes.”
“I firmly believe that with the help of international organizations such as Autism Speaks, the WHO, the UN, and others, we can develop better identification methods, improve treatment options, and create social support networks for families facing challenges every day of their life,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina said more than 3,000 children worldwide are born with autistic disorders every day, but there is no known cause for it. Treatment is also rare, she said, adding that social prejudices have caused major damage to the lives of the autistic children.
The Prime Minister appreciated the initiative of her daughter, Saima Hossain, who has been spearheading the issue of autism in Bangladesh and beyond. “I was educated about autism by Saima and even sometimes I was pressed to understand the gravity of the problem and take initiative accordingly,” she added.
She said the government has already formed a ‘Disability Foundation’ to turn these physically or mentally challenged people into national resources and include them in the mainstream of development.
Global research and advocacy forum Autism Speaks, in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and World Health Organisation (WHO), organised the two-day conference.
Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s first lady, read the seven-point Dhaka Declaration at the ceremony and Ilham Hussain, wife of the vice-president of Maldives, attended as a guest.
Ani Bambang Yudhoyono, the first lady of Indonesia, Zangling Drukpa, health minister of Bhutan, and Dr AFM Ruhal Haque, health and family welfare minister, also spoke on the occasion.
Sheikh Hasina in her speech said in most developing countries, the rights of those with mental disabilities are rarely recognised. Social stigma, misinformation, and a lack of experts and treatment centres limits the quality of support available to these families, she said.
Hasina said that in many countries like Bangladesh, “We tend to ignore mental illness, and thereby, miss the significant benefits we could otherwise gain from early identification and timely intervention.”
She mentioned that identification and intervention within the first year of a child’s life is particularly important in order to meet the challenges of neuro-developmental disorders such as autism.
Hasina “Let us begin the process of working in cooperation and collaboration with one another, so that as a region we can develop scientifically sound practices which are also economically feasible.”
The seven-point Dhaka Declaration on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities called for promoting stronger coordinated actions in the region and globally towards the improvement of the access and quality of healthcare services for individuals with autism and developmental disorders.
The declaration stresses on strengthening health system capacities to address the needs of the children with developmental disorder and their families. It calls for improving capacities of professionals involved in the provision of integrated care services for children with developmental disorder at various levels, from primary healthcare and communities to socialised services.
The declaration calls for mobilising and allocating increased human and financial resources for healthcare of children with developmental disorders and a gradual implementation of identified priorities.
It supports the provision of care in close proximity with families, homes and schools and promotes normal participation in family life, education and society.
The declaration calls for establishing measure for assurance of quality of services and promoting a supportive national legislative and policy environment to ensure social inclusion.
It calls upon the governments especially the ministries of health, education and social affairs to strengthen their mental health services and prepare them to attend the needs of the people with development disorder and autism.
The declaration invited the United Nations including WHO and other relevant UN agencies to provide scientific evidence and technical support to member states in the implementation of the actions towards increased public awareness and improve healthcare services for children with developmental disorder including autism in the context of integrated case services for children’s mental health.
The declaration requests other international, bilateral and non-governmental organizations especially those dedicated to developmental disorder and autism to support this declaration according to their specific mandates.
The inaugural ceremony of the autism conference was followed by a press conference attended by health ministers from Bhutan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and representatives from World Health Organization (WHO), Autism Speaks and BSMMU VC Dr Pran Gopal Datta.
Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr AFM Ruhal Haque said the government plans to conduct the survey on disabilities soon, to get the real picture of the disable people in the country.
The press conference was attended by –– Bhutan Health Minister Lyonpo Zangley Dukpa, Andy Shih of Global Autism Public Health Initiative and Dr Shekhar Saxen of WHO.
Sheikh Hasina’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said Sheikh Hasina and Sonia Gandhi discussed a wide range of bilateral development issues, such as alleviating poverty from the region.
On counter terrorism, the two leaders said militancy and terrorism is such a problem that it cannot be eradicated by a single country. They emphasised the need for combined efforts.
-With The Independent input
