STAFF REPORT
Islamabad: Federal Health Minister, Abdul Qadir Patel on Thursday inaugurated the first public sector state-of-the-art autism and mental health center for children in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
While speaking at the occasion, the minister said that according to rough estimates there are 400,000 children in Pakistan suffering from autism and with every single passing day the number of patients with mental disorders is continuously rising.
He said that earlier it was not possible to diagnose a kid with autism due to a lack of medical facilities and awareness. “When a single child in the family is diagnosed with autism, the whole family suffers because the treatment was not within the reach of common people in Pakistan. I am feeling great pleasure as I got this opportunity to start the center to facilitate our people,” he said.
In the first phase, this center will cater to outdoor patients (OPDs) and will work for diagnosis and treatment. He also urged the provisional governments to start such centers in provinces as soon as possible to facilitate the people suffering.
