Dhaka, Bangladesh – Prime Minister Sheik Hasina sat with the health ministers of World Health Organization- South East Asia Region (WHO-SEARO) in a roundtable discussion on “Addressing Autism Through Partnership,” at the Sonargaon Hotel. In her speech reported by bdnews24.com she was quoted as saying:
“I am always with you. Those who suffer because of their autism will get any support that the government can offer.”
Daughter of Hasina and member of WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health, Saima Hossain presented the keynote speech titled Global Initiative on Autism.
Many other officials of the world gave speeches, including the Dean of Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Michael Klag and founder and director of Kuwait Centre for Autism and Vice President of World Autism Organization Samira Al Saa.
In her speech, Hasina talked of her governments initiatives for people suffering learning differences, wisely adding that people with autism are never a a cross to bare:
“Persons with autism developmental disorders are not burden for the country at all. Many famous scholars were born with autism. I believe that in Bangladesh such persons can reach their full potential if they are nurtured properly, get social compassion and state patronization,”
The government has begun to take measure to fulfill this potential dream by turning the National Disabled Development Foundation into a directorate to better help individuals with psychical and mental differences in remote regions.
The original article on the bdnews24.com website can be read here
Contributed by Audrey L. Hollingshead