File Photo: Egypt marks World Autism Dayon 2 April
The minister proposed the idea during a virtual conference held on Thursday by the World Health Organisation (WHO) main office in Geneva on caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities.
Abdel-Ghaffar said that about 2.7 percent of children over the age of five in Egypt have difficulties in understanding and communication, adding that the country has lead the way in the early detection and care programmes in these cases.
He pointed to the presidential initiative for the early detection and treatment of hearing loss and impairment for newborns, which he said comes as part of the government’s efforts to reduce developmental issues resulting from hearing disabilities.
He added that the limited number of professionals qualified to deal with the various degrees of children’s autism represents one of the main obstacles facing this programme, a fact that led the government to consider training non-specialised groups to help give needed medical and psychological care to children with autism alongside training the children’s families.
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