Kazakhstan to include adult autism into national classification of diseases
Kazakhstan will revise the algorithm of support of people with autism. Minister of Healthcare Akmaral Alnazarova said it in an interview with Jibek Joly TV channel, Kazinform correspondent reports.
Adult autistic persons remain out-of-sight of the state in Kazakhstan, as there is no official adult autism diagnosis in the national classification of diseases.
According to statistics, autism cases increased almost twofold in the past three years: from 5,000 to 10,000.
Meanwhile, Autism Speaks international organization says that every 54th child on the planet is diagnosed with autism annually.
The number of autistic children keeps rising in Kazakhstan. Another problem is lack of data about adult autists. Thus, the Ministry says there are only 145 adults diagnosed with autism countrywide.
The doctors in Kazakhstan work in accordance with the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases,Tenth Revision), which includes only early infantile autism.
According to Akmaral Alnazarova, the Ministry of Healthcare and the Ministry of Labour are currently working on inclusion of this diagnosis (adult autism) into the national classification.
We need to study this issue more thoroughly, and to revise standards for this category of patients. The algorithm [of support - edit] on children and adults will be revised, she said.
Upon reaching 18, the payment of benefits to the parents of special needs children is halted. But the disease itself does not disappear. Therefore, many parents have to agree on another diagnosis from doctors such as schizophrenia or mental retardation. Unfortunately, this is not the way out of the situation, since it is almost impossible to find a job with such a diagnosis.
