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| October 05, 2008 | Sunday | Shawwal 5, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Eleven killed during US raid in Iraq Sunday, 05 Oct, BAGHDAD: Eleven people were killed, including three women and three children, as a suicide bomber struck and a gunbattle broke out during a US raid on a house in northern Mosul on Sunday, the US military said. American troops came under fire as they entered the house in the city of Mosul, 370 kilometres from Baghdad, looking for a wanted man, it said in a statement. It said a man detonated a suicide vest as the troops closed in on the suspects. Five men were killed along with three women and three children while another child was wounded in the blast, the US military said, without reporting any American casualties. (Posted @ 23:36 PST)
Strong earthquake hits Central Asia Sunday, 05 Oct, BISHKEK: A strong earthquake hit Central Asia on Sunday but there were no immediate reports of destruction or casualties, the US Geological Survey and the Kyrgyz emergencies ministry said. The US Geological Survey reported that a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck 35 miles east of Sary-Tash near the borders of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at 9:52 p.m. It had a depth of 21.7 miles, the survey reported. The Kyrgyz emergencies ministry said it had information that a quake measuring 8.5 on a 12-level scale assessing earthquake intensity jolted the densely populated southern region of Osh. (Posted @ 23:32 PST)
Earthquake tremors felt in and around Islamabad Sunday, 05 Oct, ISLAMABAD: Earthquake tremors were felt in and around Islamabad on Sunday. The magnitude of the quake was recorded as 6.5 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre lying 650 north of Peshawar, in Kyrgystan, private television channels reported. (Posted @ 22:55 PST)
Rocket lands near NWFP CM’s house Sunday, 05 Oct, MARDAN: A rocket landed near the house of NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti in Mardan on Sunday, causing a loud explosion. (Posted @ 22:08 PST)
Important militant commanders killed in Swat Sunday, 05 Oct, MINGORA: Security forces said two important militant commanders were killed during an exchange of fire at Sambat in the troubled Matta tehsil here on Sunday. Local people claimed the security forces' convoy came under fire in Sambat area, around 25 kms northwest of Mingora, after a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) blew up. They claimed two security personnel were injured in the blast but the forces denied it stating none of their men received injuries during the operation. The blast triggered heavy exchange of fire during which the forces claimed of killing two commanders identified as Ayub and Amir Zaib. Two non-combatants, including a woman, were also killed due to intense firing, while one person received injuries. (Posted @ 22:00 PST)
Pressure on Turkey to crush PKK may hurt US, EU ties Sunday, 05 Oct, ANKARA: Turkey faces increasing pressure at home after Friday's deadly ambush to launch a major offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq that would hurt its ties with Washington and the European Union, analysts say. Tapping into widespread indignation and nationalism sparked by the attack that killed at least 15 Turkish soldiers, newspaper Vatan's front-page headline said, 'Enough is enough!,' along with photos of the dead soldiers. Turkish television stations on Sunday broadcast live the soldiers' funerals, with tens of thousands of mourners across the country waving Turkish flags. (Posted @ 21:42 PST)
Sarbajit Singh's case being reviewed: Farooq Naek Sunday, 05 Oct, LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek Sunday said the case of Indian spy Sarbajit Singh was being reviewed in detail and its report will soon be presented to the President of Pakistan. He was talking to newsmen at the Regional Directorate of Human Rights in Islamabad. Naek said Pakistan also expects from India that it will reciprocate the positive gesture and make decisions to release Pakistani prisoners on humanitarian grounds. The minister said Pakistan wanted to have good relations with India. (Posted @ 21:16 PST)
Zardari, Gilani discuss national issues Sunday, 05 Oct, ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari met at the Aiwan-i-Sadr Islamabad on Sunday and discussed several national issues with him, including the current security situation in the country and the ongoing military operation in northwestern Pakistan. The Prime Minister briefed the President on the overall law and order situation as well as the government's plans to improve it. They also discussed the various other challenges facing the country. The two leaders discussed expansion in the parliament besides its upcoming joint sessionbeing held on October 8. (Posted @ 21:04 PST)
Farooq Naek suggests forming of PCB committee Sunday, 05 Oct, LAHORE: Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek on Sunday suggested the setting up a five-member high-powered cricket committee to streamline the working of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He was addressing a news conference after a meeting with former test cricketers including former Pakistan captains, Ramiz Raja, Wasim Akram, Inzamamul Haq, Saeed Anwar and Mushtaq Ahmad. The meeting continued for almost one hour in which the former masters gave useful suggestions for the betterment of cricket and for lifting Pakistan out of the present crisis in which foreign teams have refused to visit the country owing to security concerns. The Federal Minister said there is a dire need to have such a powerful committee to guide the Chairman of the Board on important issues and to have a major role in decision making. (Posted @ 20:38 PST)
Eleven killed during US raid in Iraq Sunday, 05 Oct, BAGHDAD: Eleven people were killed, including three women and three children, as a suicide bomber struck and a gunbattle broke out during a US raid on a house in northern Mosul on Sunday, the US military said. American troops came under fire as they entered the house in the city of Mosul, 370 kilometres from Baghdad, looking for a wanted man, it said in a statement. It said a man detonated a suicide vest as the troops closed in on the suspects. Five men were killed along with three women and three children while another child was wounded in the blast, the US military said, without reporting any American casualties. 'As coalition forces entered the building housing the terrorist, they began receiving small arms fire. Coalition forces returned fire once engaged.' 'A terrorist detonated a suicide vest shortly thereafter in the house ...Five terrorists along with three women and three children were killed,' the statement said. (Posted @ 20:06 PST)
Troops kill six Taliban in Bajaur Sunday, 05 Oct, KHAR, Pakistan: At least six Taliban insurgents were killed as Pakistani troops pounded suspected militant hideouts in the troubled tribal district of Bajaur on the Afghan border, officials said Sunday. The operation was launched late Saturday, targeting militants in Rashakai and Tang Khata towns in Bajaur, a hub of Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants, a security official said. 'The exchange of fire continued until dawn and we have reports that six militants were killed,' the official said, requesting anonymity. The two places, close to the troubled Afghan province of Khost, were considered militant strongholds in Bajaur, where Pakistani forces launched a major offensive in August. (Posted @ 19:46 PST)
Indian police kill 14 as ethnic clashes continue Sunday, 05 Oct, GAUHATI, India: Police shot at violent mobs in northeastern India, killing 14 people and raising the death toll from three days of ethnic clashes to at least 30, officials said Sunday. About 25,000 villagers have fled their homes, they said. Authorities imposed an indefinite curfew Friday in the northern districts of Assam state when clashes erupted between members of the ethnic Bodo group and Muslim settlers. State officials authorized police to shoot anyone fighting in the streets. On Sunday, police shot into a mob that was setting huts on fire in Dhola village in Darrang district, 50 miles north of the state capital of Gauhati, state official Rajib Bora said. He said four people were killed. 'The situation is tense,' Bora said. Police also fired twice on violent groups Friday, killing at least 10 people, state Home Secretary Subhash Das said. He said at least 16 other people had died in the ethnic violence. The fighting began Friday when a group of young Bodo men were attacked after they finished patrolling their villages. Bodo leaders blamed the incident on relatively recent settlers, most of whom are Muslims, sparking several days of clashes, Bora said. (Posted @ 19:32 PST)
Scientists find oldest fossil tracks of legged animal Sunday, 05 Oct, WASHINGTON: US scientists have found the oldest fossilized tracks of a tiny legged animal, from 570 million years ago, that push back the advent of more complex creatures on Earth by some 30 million years, a report said Sunday. The fossilized trails, thought to belong to a centipede or a leg-bearing worm that lived in the water, were found in sedimentary rocks in the US state of Nevada, said Ohio State University geology professor and the study's chief author Loren Babcock. The finding, as reported to the Geological Society of America meeting Sunday in Houston, Texas, shatters the belief that pre-Cambrian life on Earth was restricted to microbes and simple, multicellular organisms. (Posted @ 18:22 PST)
Queen of satire Sunday, 05 Oct, If America wakes up on the morning of Wednesday November 5 to discover that John McCain has taken the White House and a moose-shooting former beauty queen from Alaska is now vice-president of the most powerful nation on Earth, there will be only one stronghold of the liberal elite that isn’t reduced to outright mourning. That will be the New York headquarters of NBC in midtown Manhattan, where a select handful of TV executives will be punching the air, re-examining their share options and celebrating the fact that their employee Tina Fey can carry on as the hottest property in US broadcasting for another four years. Fey is a comedian, actress, and head writer for NBC’s hit shows Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, who won no fewer than three gongs at the recent Emmy Awards. More pertinently, she is responsible for the hugely funny impersonations of Sarah Palin that have propelled SNL to record ratings, become some of the most-watched video clips on the internet, and driven a fair portion of the agenda of the presidential election race in the process. (Posted @ 17:44 PST)
Tata's Nano a big crowd-puller at India festival Sunday, 05 Oct, KOLKATA: An outsized model of Nano, the ultra-cheap car from Tata Motors, is pulling crowds of thousands at a Hindu festival in eastern India, after its factory was abandoned by the automaker after farmers' protests. Tata Motors Ltd said on Friday it would move its factory for the Nano, hailed as the world's cheapest car, out of West Bengal state after violent protests by farmers who had lost land forced the company to stop construction of the plant. The company's decision dismayed many in the state. On Saturday, around 500 people, including farmers and workers from construction and auto supplier companies, held a rally in Singur, the cluster of villages that had been slated for the Nano's factory, to protest Tata's decision to pull out. Tata's move came just before a four-day festival of the Hindu goddess Durga, which celebrates the killing of a demon by the ten-armed deity. (Posted @ 17:40 PST)
18 killed as truck veers off Turkish road Sunday, 05 Oct, ANKARA: Eighteen people died when a truck carrying illegal immigrants veered off the road and fell into a ditch in northwestern Turkey Sunday, a local official told the Anatolia news agency. Twenty-three others were injured in the accident near the town of Malkara, Tekirdag province, governor Aydin Nezih Dogan said. Most of the victims were immigrants from Burma and officials were trying to identify them, he added. Turkey lies on a major human smuggling route from Asia to Europe. The immigrants mostly try to cross by land to nearby Greece, or brave clandestine sea journeys to Greece or Italy. (Posted @ 17:02 PST)
Egyptian bus collides with truck, killing 13 Sunday, 05 Oct, CAIRO: At least 13 Egyptians were killed when an intercity bus collided head-on with a truck on a highway south of Cairo on Sunday, and 21 others were injured, security and medical sources said. Security sources said the bus had been trying to overtake another vehicle when it hit a truck travelling in the opposite direction near the town of Beni Suef. The bus had been taking Egyptians from Giza, near Cairo, to Beni Suef following the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of Ramazan. (Posted @ 16:48 PST)
Palin accuses Obama of terrorist links COSTA MESA: Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin accused Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday of 'palling around with terrorists,' marking a shift to a nastier tone in the White House race. The remark was dismissed by Obama as 'gutter politics' but appeared to reflect an effort by Sen. John McCain's campaign to target Obama's judgment as the Illinois senator solidifies his national lead and gains an edge in vital battleground states a month before the Nov. 4 election. (Posted 14:04 PST)
Mexican police find nine bodies dumped in Tijuana TIJUANA: Police have found nine more bodies dumped around the Mexican border city of Tijuana, where nearly 50 people have been killed in a week of violence related to the drug trade. Five men were found asphyxiated in a car Saturday in the eastern part of the city, according to the Baja California state Attorney General's Office. The men were beaten and had their hands bound. (Posted 13:36 PST)
Speaking to the soul “I can’t imagine us on billboards holding mobile phones or something,” scoffs singer/pianist Jaffer. Maaz, sitting next to him, shakes his head imagining it, “No way, that’s just not right.” Raheel would also agree with both his band members. Sitting in Faisal Rafi’s studio, I’m flanked by two members of Kaavish. Drummer Raheel is at work but was kind enough to speak to me afterwards, and he too agreed: As a band, the last thing on their minds right now is fame. They are busy at the studio polishing away track after track of their debut album, Gunkali. (Posted 13:30 PST)
North Korean leader appears in public SEOUL: North Korea's state news agency reported a public appearance by reclusive leader Kim Jong Il for the first time in nearly two months, an absence that prompted speculation he was seriously ill. Kim watched a university football game, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday. It did not say anything about his health condition or when he made the appearance. (Posted 13:03 PST)
Skydivers freefall over Mt. Everest KATHMANDU:Three skydivers made the first ever parachute jump over Mount Everest on Sunday, organisers and participants said, culminating years of preparation. About 32 skydivers from more than 10 countries including Britain, Canada, the United States and New Zealand have been in the Everest region since last week to jump from an aircraft flying 465 feet (142 metres) higher than the Everest summit. (Posted 12:17 PST)
Pakistan draw against Malaysia: Hamburg Masters KARACHI, Oct 4: Pakistan survived a scare before holding Malaysia to a 2-2 draw on the second day of the four nation Hamburg Masters hockey tournament in Germany on Saturday. According to information made available by the Pakistan Hockey Federation here, Shakeel Abbasi and Haseem Khan netted one goal each for Pakistan. (Posted 11:57 PST)
Erra’s housing subsidy not sufficient: NGO ISLAMABAD: Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation is set to release a report aimed at assessing the impact of the housing subsidy provided by the Earthquake Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority (Erra) to the people affected by the October 8, 2005 earthquake. According to an official press release issued here on Saturday, the organisation stated that real cost of the reconstruction of houses was much higher than the support provided by Erra.(Posted 11:38 PST)
Panel to finalise strategy before Abu Dhabi moot KARACHI: The advisory panel of Pakistan’s senior economists constituted by the Planning Commission a few weeks ago is holding its second marathon session from Monday at Lahore to finalise economic stabilization, sustainable growth, income distribution and social sector development programme ahead of the scheduled meeting in October of the Friends of Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and annual sessions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington. Headed by a well-known economist Dr Hafiz Pasha, the panel includes Dr Rashid Amjad, Dr Akmal Hussain, Dr Naved Hamid, Ijaz Nabi, Dr Qazi Masood, Asad Saeed, Haris Gazdar, Riaz Riazuddin, Dr Cheema and Saqib Shirani. (Posted 11:27 PST)
Afghanistan victory impossible: UK chief LONDON: Decisive military victory in Afghanistan is impossible and the Taliban may well be part of a long-term solution for the country, a senior British commander in Afghanistan was quoted as saying on Sunday. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which has just completed its second tour in Afghanistan, told the Sunday Times that people should 'lower their expectations' about how the conflict will end. He also said Britons should prepare for a possible deal with the Taliban. (Posted 11:10 PST)
Curfew, arrests ahead of Indian Kashmir rally SRINAGAR: Security forces enforced a strict curfew in Indian Kashmir on Sunday and detained separatist leaders to prevent them from holding a pro-independence rally, officials reported. However, separatist leaders have vowed to continue the protest as planned, DawnNews reported. According to AFP, the curfew was in force in the summer capital Srinagar and other Muslim-majority towns ahead of Monday's planned rally at the main city's Red Square, or Lal Chowk. (Posted 11:01 PST)
‘Self-correction’ in doubt THE market has crashed. There is great uncertainty about the future. People are generally depressed and certain that we will have a very difficult time in the next year or two. The IMF team has come to help us out. However, there are conflicting views about the role of the IMF and the self-correcting ability of free markets. According to former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, the global capitalist economy “is vastly … flexible, resilient, open, self-correcting and fast-changing”. While some of the adjectives are operative, ‘self-correcting’ is generally being challenged. (Posted 10:57 PST)
Black is not white FORTUNE has given me the pleasure of having a good friend who has lived on this earth for 93 years, though looking at him and talking to him one would never be able to guess his true age. Mahmud Futehally is at peace with his Maker and it would seem that his Maker is at peace with him. Amazingly, the man still has great faith in the goodness of man and his aim in life remains, at this advanced age, to somehow benefit the population at large, and particularly the poor and deprived. His activities in the field of agriculture and horticulture are laudable. (Posted 10:31 PST)
Beyond the West WHILE Condoleezza Rice is going to New Delhi to celebrate the nuclear deal with India, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani believes it isn’t exactly an occasion for Pakistan to mourn. Talking to newsmen in Multan on Friday, the prime minister said Islamabad would seek a similar deal with Washington for the peaceful use of nuclear energy. However, the issue is hardly that simple, for it gets mixed up with our anomalous relationship with America. There is no doubt Pakistan has to diversify its sources of energy production if it is to meet rising needs. New large dams, or at least some of them, are not only controversial to the extent that their construction can pit the federating units against each other, they will also take over a decade in coming on line even if work began now. Nor is there evidence that our vast coal reserves are going to be used in the near future in a way that will significantly alter the energy scene. At the same time, progress has been slow in tapping the renewable energy resources at our disposal. That, despite the inherent safety concerns, leaves us with little choice but to explore the nuclear option. (Posted 10:23 PST)
PPP warns Nawaz of opposition alliance GUJRAT: Expressing the desire to keep the coalition with the PML-N intact, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on Saturday the PPP had yet to decide whether it had to accept the PML-Q with the Chaudhry brothers or without them. “While the PML-Q will not remain even a party till the next election, the PPP would like to continue its coalition with the N-League in Punjab due to strong and good relations,” he told reporters at his office. (Posted 10:06 PST)
Pakistan urged to join ‘winter offensive’: US WASHINGTON: The United States is urging Pakistan to participate in a major winter offensive against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants and also to undertake joint military patrols of its border with Afghanistan along with US, Nato and Afghan troops. At a recent video news conference at the Pentagon, a top Nato commander, Gen David McKiernan, told journalists in Washington, that a joint patrol could end cross-border raids and deny the Taliban militants their safe havens inside Pakistan. (Posted 09:01 PST)
Drop in power generation causes 2500 MW shortfall LAHORE: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Saturday squeezed water releases from Tarbela Dam, causing a drop of 1,000MW in power generation and increasing total power shortfall to 2,500MW. As a result, Pakistan Electric Power Company enhanced the load shedding duration from two to three hours to four to five hours throughout the country. (Posted 06:10 PST)
EU leaders vow to battle financial crisis PARIS: Europe's four major powers vowed Saturday to do all they could to prevent Wall Street's turmoil from destabilizing their banking systems, even as a euro35 billion (US$48 billion) plan to save a German lender fell apart. But aside from vague statements of intent and calls for tighter regulation, the leaders of Germany, France, Britain and Italy shied away from the sort of massive bailout passed by the US Congress on Friday. (Posted 05:13 PST)
Two US Blackhawks crash in Baghdad: military BAGHDAD: Two US Blackhawk helicopters crashed in northern Baghdad's Sunni district of Adhamiyah late on Saturday while approaching landing, a US military spokesman said. ‘Reports we have is that the two helicopters were in the process of landing when they collided,’ spokesman Captain Charles Calio told AFP. (Posted 04:16 PST)
Afghan refugees leave Bajaur after govt notice ISLAMABAD: The repatriation of Afghans has begun from Bajaur Agency after the administration announced a ban on their entry in the area and warned them to leave the agency within three days. More than 5,000 Afghan refugees along with their livestock left the area and headed for Afghanistan. (Posted 03:55 PST)
Albums galore Hadiqa Kiyani, the Mekaal Hasan Band, Raeth, Kaavish, Mauj and Rubberband seem to be running against time, in a bid to take out their albums either immediately after Eid, or within the next month or so after the end of October. Speaking with Jafar of Kaavish about their new album’s sound and genre, Jafar stated that “this album will be more of a contemporary Western orchestral fused with Eastern classical music. I’ve always been into desi classical music actually – I sort of grew up listening to A.R. Rahman, and he really played a major role in influencing my tastes in music. Also, this album has been entirely played live, and it caters to all ages.” Gunkali – the name of Kaavish’s new album – is actually the name of an early morning raag which denotes a new beginning. (Posted 01:15 PST)
The decline of concert culture The last open-air concert I attended, what with my bevy of friends intact and spirits high, involved a crowded event with the typical mobs of over-enthused youth and a rockstar who continually broke out with the tireless slogan “Mazaa aa raha hai?”. Of course, this is minus the track record of Rafi Peer concerts ever since: those are sort of mandatory on the Lahori list every year. My point is, it’s been a long, long time since my last open-air, boisterous concert. A few years ago, concerts were a rite of passage for your average Pakistani teenager. What with the culture of social events severely lacking, the populist concert erected a charm of its own. Especially for the young, it meant a slightly wilder side of living: what with loose spirits, good music and other essentials flowing about freely – depending on the kind of concert you were at. (Posted 01:01 PST)
Parliament to be given in-camera security briefing ISLAMABAD: A joint session of the parliament has been called at 5.00 p.m. on October 8 in which an in-camera briefing on the law and order situation in the country will be given by intelligence agencies. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that this decision was taken during his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday. (Posted 12:34 PST)
sdgsd By Rudina Xhaferri and Khalid Iqbal
Neuroscience is not only the last frontier of biology but also an area which, despite enormous need (Specialising in Mental Health, Dawn Education, Aug 17 [http://www.dawn.com/weekly/education/archive/080817/education3.htm]), is among the most neglected in Pakistan. Understanding how the nervous system works, what toll the impairment of cognition has on an individual’s life and how cognitive abilities can be improved is critical to the quality of life. Pakistan must invest in basic and clinical neuroscience education to produce first-rate neuroscientists and neuroclinicians to research and treat the vast number of its unfortunate citizens who suffer from neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
Mental retardation and neurodevelopmental impairments
Brain disorders that impair our ability to learn, recall and think are among the most cruel diseases, and it is especially heartbreaking when children suffer from them. It is estimated that between 10 to 20 per cent of children worldwide suffer from one or more mental or behavioral problems. Approximately 39 per cent of the population in Pakistan is made up of children, age 0-14 years. Developmental disabilities start during childhood before the brain has completely developed to its full potential.
Not surprisingly, the prevalence of mental health problems among school-going children is high in most developing countries. The prevalence of severe mental retardation in developing countries is estimated to be 5.2 to 16.2 per 1,000 children; in Pakistan it is estimated to be 15.1 compared to three to five per 1,000 children in developed countries. As in other developing countries, a major concern regarding the identification and treatment of mental retardation and other neurodevelopmental disabilities (such as autism) in Pakistan is a proper diagnosis and combatting the stigma that surrounds it.
Neurodevelopment disabilities are often seen in general pediatric practice. While definitive data for Pakistan is lacking, clinical approximation suggests that over six million (10 per cent of 62.5 million) children are learning impaired, while close to two million manifest some degree of mental retardation.
The population prevalence of these combined disorders of learning rivals that of the common childhood disorder asthma. Most individuals with mild mental retardation and other learning disorders are free of neurological complications, CNS malformations, and dysmorphisms. They are more likely, however, to be born into families of low socioeconomic status, and little education. Poor cognitive functioning and mental retardation are correlated positively with a life of poverty. With a population growth rate of over two per cent, more and more children with mental retardation and neurodevelopmental disabilities are being born in Pakistan every year; a society which remains ill-equipped for early detection, support, appropriate treatment and follow-up of these individuals.
While many of these children have mild mental retardation, they are unable to integrate into society and therefore, remain a burden to their families and the national economy at large.
Mental retardation is broadly defined as having a significantly below-average score on a test of mental ability or intelligence and by significant limitations in the ability to function in areas of daily life such as communication, self-care, and getting along in social situations and school activities.
The term neurodevelopmental disorder covers a wide range of conditions and subcategories which arise during an individual’s childhood years, and continue across the entire life span affecting emotion, the capacity for learning and memory. Such disorders include mental retardation, Down’s Syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention-deficit and disruptive behavior disorders, autism, communication and learning disorders, neurological and psychiatric disorders. They are best treated when identified early in life so that proper care and support can be given to the affected individual by a system of support including the family, school, and medical care.
The problem with identifying this sort of disability in its early stages is that unless a trained eye looks for the signs and identifies it properly, it will often be overlooked as just a stage, or underestimated due to the social pressure of having an “abnormal” child. Therefore, it is very important to be informed about these disorders and then to make the right decisions with the help of trained medical professionals to better assist a child who suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder.
Lack of trained personnel and institutions
Recent scientific progress has helped to better understand and address mental retardation issues. Recognising that people with mental retardation, with proper care and support, can be integrated effectively into larger society and can be valuable productive family members and citizens, has been probably the major achievement in reducing the social stigma associated with mental health disorders.
During the recent years, in developed countries people with mental retardation have increasingly been accepted as functioning members of society, many live in special community settings where they are employed and become productive, as well as accepted for their abilities. An excellent example in Pakistan is the Roshni Village Centre, a very small private funded project, supported by the Roshni Association in the outskirts of Lahore, where mentally retarded people are not only being taken care of, but are also increasingly becoming a part of society by producing goods on the farm and operating a bakery where organic baked goods are made and sold. Such projects need to be encouraged, multiplied and generously supported.
Proper medical care and strong social support give those suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders the opportunity to live life as normally as possible. In developed countries, social integrative programmes in which other children help to teach children with developmental disabilities social and learning skills and parents are trained to deal with attention problems or other individualistic problems, make a big difference in the lives of the disabled children and the social environment where they live.
In developing countries like Pakistan, the immediate family is usually the place where most of the neurodevelopmentally disabled live, mainly due to a lack of affordable social institutions to host them. However, for some more severe cases where specialised medical attention and supervision is required, the lack of access to adequate mental institutions makes the lives of both children with disabilities and their families very difficult. Therefore, it is important to offer a system of support both for the children and the family that includes social workers, child caregivers, and relief care centres.
It is the scarce availability of such centres coupled with financial constraints and lack of trained professionals in Pakistan that makes the status of people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities quite alarming. There is an urgent need for increasing the number of all levels of trained personnel working in primary care and at clinics. According to Murad Moosa Khan, Professor of Psychiatry at the Aga Khan University, “there are only 150-200 qualified psychiatrists in Pakistan, an alarming ratio of one psychiatrist to a million people. The majority of psychiatrists are urban-based, whereas 70 per cent of the population is rural-based” (Psychiatric Bulletin, 2006).
In addition to increasing the number of child and adolescent psychiatrists, there is an urgent need to address the lack of social workers and professional nurses (currently there is less than one psychiatric nurse per million people in Pakistan), as well as community facilities that can offer information and guide the parents and families of those with neurodevelopmental disabilities to adequately care for their children. These community services can offer a more useful and helpful model of care than that presented by the traditional healers that people go to.
The future: what may be done
Only 7.6 per cent of third-year medical students from four medical colleges, have selected psychiatry as their chosen career or as a highly likely choice, according to “Attitudes of Pakistani Medical Students Towards Psychiatry as a Prospective Career: A Survey” published in the April issue of the journal Academic Psychiatry.
The government currently spends only 0.4 per cent of the total health budget on mental health (WHO, Mental Health Atlas, 2005), and very little goes to higher education and training of medical staff specifically for mental health. Currently 17 institutions offer training in psychiatry, but the low passing rates and the poor quality of higher education, affects the quality of graduated professionals and their future professional work. With such numbers, the prospects of children with mental health problems are not very bright. Immediate attention and serious funding must be provided by the government both to educational institutions that prepare and train medical staff and social workers as well as to existing clinical institutions. In addition, new community-based centres where neurodevelopmentally disabled children can be taken care of should be established.
These three avenues can be facilitated by establishing public-private partnerships between government-funded institutions such as universities and hospitals (the main health care providers in Pakistan) and businesses or non-profit organisations interested in healthcare and education. Such partnerships have the benefit of attracting more funds and thus becoming more effective in providing better care to a larger number of children that suffer from neurological disorders.
The writers work for the Promotion of Education in Pakistan Foundation, Inc., USA.
Email: info@pepfoundation.org
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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