28 JUNE 2018

Seminar on “Autism Spectrum Disorder - Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment” organized in PHRC

Autism is a neuro-psychiatric disorder, characterized by troubles with social interaction and communication and by restricted and repetitive behavior. Autism is congenital disease and its cause is usually unknown.

On June 28, 2018, a seminar on “Autism Spectrum Disorder - Diagnosis, Evaluation and Treatment” was held at Public Health and Reforms Center of the Ministry of Health (PHRC). The seminar was organized according to the 3.1.2 item on “Developing sustainable medical education mechanisms to improve medical specialists’ knowledge and skills” of Action Plan on “2014-2020 Strategic Plan” of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The seminar brought together pediatricians, psycho-neurologists, psychologists, employees of Azerbaijan State Advanced Training Institute for Doctors and PHRC.

Opening the event Head of the Projects' Coordination Department of PHRC Sabina Babazade, gave information about autism in our country and spoke about measures taken by governmental and non-governmental organizations. A specialist invited from the US Marina Azimova spoke about the difficulties in rehabilitation of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). She underlined that, autism is not a disease, but a different type of ability, that’s why, autistic people see, hear and feel the world differently to other people.

Another expert invited from the US, Andy Shih and Canan Tanidir from Turkey highlighted importance of need to start caring and acting for a better future of children with autism.

The seminar focused on providing an understanding of autism, and how to approach and welcome people with ASD, as well as various strategies that could be used to assist and support them.

Photos taken at the seminar can be found here.

The full text of the news is available in Azerbaijani language.